ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><HTML xmlns:asp><HEAD> <TITLE>Nation celebrates 1484th Birthday of Prophet Mohamed</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0" name=GENERATOR> <META content="Visual Basic .NET 7.1" name=CODE_LANGUAGE> <META content=JavaScript name=vs_defaultClientScript> <META content=http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5 name=vs_targetSchema><LINK href="../../../../Style/ENA.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet ><LINK href="../../../../../vg.css" type=text/css rel=STYLESHEET ></HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff MS_POSITIONING="GridLayout"> <P> &nbsp;</P> <TABLE id=Table1 style="Z-INDEX: 102; LEFT: 8px; WIDTH: 984px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 8px; HEIGHT: 24px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width=984 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 976px" vAlign=middle align=center> <P style="text-align: left"> <img src="../../../../Images/Logo.gif" /> &nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG src="../../../../Images/ENALogo.gif" ></P></TD> <TD vAlign=middle align=center> <P>&nbsp;</P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 976px" vAlign="middle" align="center" bgColor="#cc3399" colSpan="1" rowSpan="1"></TD> <TD vAlign="middle" align="center"></TD> </TR></TBODY></TABLE> <br /> <br /> <table> <tr> <td style="width: 622px" valign="top"> <TABLE id=Table2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px solid; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; Z-INDEX: 103; LEFT: 11px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; TOP: 97px;" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; BORDER-BOTTOM: darkgray 1px solid; width: 588px; height: 1px;" vAlign=bottom align=center bgColor=white> <SPAN id=lblHeading style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: larger; WIDTH: 580px; COLOR: royalblue; FONT-FAMILY: Visual Geez Unicode; HEIGHT: 24px; line-height: normal;" >Nation celebrates 1484th Birthday of Prophet Mohamed</SPAN></TD></TR> <TR style="PADDING-RIGHT: 12px; PADDING-LEFT: 12px; LEFT: 20px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 12px; MARGIN-LEFT: 6px; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; PADDING-TOP: 12px"> <TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Visual Geez Unicode; HEIGHT: 17px; width: 588px; background-color: ghostwhite;" vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#f8f8ff> <span style="font-size: 10pt">Addis Ababa, February 26, 2010 (Addis Ababa) - The 1484th Birthday of Prophet Mohamed, otherwise known as  Mawlid among the Islamic community, was celebrated on Friday across the nation.<p><p>At an event held here in  Anuar Mosque in connection with the day, Addis Ababa City Islamic Affairs Supreme Council President, Sheik Seid Gizaw said the faithful shall vow to follow the grand principles and lifestyle of Prophet Mohamed while celebrating Mawlid.<p><p>The president said followers of the Islamic religion shall remain duty bound in supporting the sick and the disadvantaged during the festivities of the holyday.<p><p>Ethiopia is a country where a culture of religious tolerance and tranquility reigns among the nations, nationalities, and peoples of the nation, the president said, adding the faithful shall play their level best in upholding this culture of mutual respect and brotherhood.<p><p>Sheik Seid also urged the faithful to fully discharge their national duties and responsibilities in efforts geared toward reducing poverty and in bringing about speedy and sustainable development across the country.<p><p>The event, which comprises mass praying, attracted senior government officials, ministers, the diplomatic corps, invited guests, and thousands of followers of the Islamic religion living in different parts of the metropolis. <p><p>---END---<p></span></TD></TR> </TBODY></TABLE> </td> <td style="width: 657px; font-size: 12pt;" valign="top"> <table> <tr> <td style="width: 366px"> <IMG id=imgPhoto style="FLOAT: left" src="Images/107335.jpg"></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 366px; background-color: cornflowerblue; text-align: center; height: 4px;"> <strong><span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Trebuchet MS">Headlines</span></strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: smaller; width: 366px; font-family: 'Visual Geez Unicode'"> <img src="../../../../Images/grn_arrow.gif"" /><a href="107335.htm">Nation celebrates 1484th Birthday of Prophet Mohamed</a><br /> <img src="../../../../Images/grn_arrow.gif"" /><a href="107337.htm"> Int l specialty coffee buyers visit cooperatives of Sidamo, Yirgachefe Coffee Unions</a><br /> <img src="../../../../Images/grn_arrow.gif"" /><a href="107344.htm">UNAMID celebrates deployment of tactical helicopters</a><br /> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: whitesmoke; text-align: center;" colspan="2"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #006699; font-family: Trebuchet MS"><strong>(c) The Ethiopian News Agency</strong></span></td> </tr> </table> </BODY></HTML>