World leaders offer Eid messages

To mark the festival of “Eid al-Adha”, the “Festival of the Sacrifice”, leaders from around the globe offered messages and well wishes.

From the new British prime minister:

To all Muslims, in this country & around the world, I want to say Eid Mubarak. I wish you a happy & peaceful Eid. pic.twitter.com/kHpwVR3P0e

— Theresa May (@theresa_may) September 12, 2016

To the (relatively) new prime minister of Canada, who spent part of the day with a Muslim Association in Ottawa, the national capital:

Eid Mubarak! My thanks to the Ottawa Muslim Association for welcoming me to Eid al-Adha celebrations today. pic.twitter.com/aksEI0mr6b

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 12, 2016

Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the UN offered an Eid video…

“Let us draw on our common humanity to build a better world for all.”
Ban Ki-moon msg for #EidAlAdha pic.twitter.com/iFtfRA6BAS

— United Nations (@UN) September 12, 2016

… while the King of Jordan offered pictures of himself praying.

His Majesty King Abdullah II performs #EidAlAdha Prayer at Al Hashmieh Mosque #Jordan pic.twitter.com/HDd8lc9n6A

— RHC (@RHCJO) September 12, 2016

Bashar al-Assad, the embattled dictator of Syria, also marked the event with prayer. In his case it was in a Mosque in the recently besieged district of Daraya. The political symbolism was not lost on observers:

Cannot imagine st more singularly inappropriate than Assad praying on #EidAlAdha in Daraya, scene of so much killing pic.twitter.com/2Mtd9W3a27

— Chris Doyle (@Doylech) September 12, 2016

Notably, there were no similar social media messages from President Obama or either of the two main presidential candidates.