SPUTNIK REFUGEE CAMP, Russia, Jan 8 (AFP) - Thousands of Muslim refugees from war-torn Chechnya housed in this tent city across the border in Ingushetia held quiet celebrations on Saturday to mark the end of Ramadan.
Reduced to homelessness and abject poverty by the second conflict with Russia within four years, only a handful could observe the custom of slaughtering a sheep to mark the festival of Eid al-Fitr after darkness fell on Friday.
But invited into a tent that is home to an extended family of 25, I was treated as an honored guest by the occupants, who insisted with traditional Chechen hospitality on offering their food.
The head of the family, Lom Ali Khataev, 38, a man of impressive bearing, said without a trace of bitterness in his voice: "Thanks to Allah, it has been a good day."
"The most important thing is that bombs are not dropping on us and that we are among friends. We just hope that it doesn't get worse," he added.
More than three months ago, he and his family fled the town of Urus-Martan, southwest of the capital Grozny, when Russian warplanes began to unleash an aerial blitz on Chechen population centers.
An engineer by trade who set up a small furniture-making business after Chechnya was left in ruins following the failed 1994-1996 Russian drive to crush its independence, he is now living on handouts.
But his wife and female relatives concocted a holiday feast to mark the day apart from the daily drudgery of life in this bleak and muddy refugee camp.
On the table, they laid out chicken with rice, rice pudding with raisins, bread, biscuits, condensed milk, bottles of fizzy orange and pineapple drink, tea with lemon and sugar, and a chocolate bar.
That was a gift given to all Chechen refugees by Ruslan Aushev, president of Ingushetia, a tiny republic that is accommodating nearly 190,000 of its Muslim brethren despite itself having a population of only 340,000.
"Our faith keeps us alive," said Lom Ali, who like most refugees uses his temporary home as a center for prayer, although the camp does house a makeshift mosque in a tent.
All the family, from children eight years up, observed the month-long period of fasting over Ramadan.
Asked about the future, he said: "We want to be good neighbors with Russia," but added with quiet determination: "Chechnya has always been independent."
His wife Lisa, said as she poured out the tea: "We hope that the war will end, that we can get home, that our children won't suffer any more."
