Saudi Arabia warned yesterday that it would deport any foreigner who publicly eats, drinks or smokes between dawn and dusk during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. In a separate announcement, officials also called on all Muslims in Saudi Arabia ? home to Islam?s holiest sites ? to look out on Wednesday evening for the new moon which would mark the start of the lunar month. Anyone who spotted the crescent moon should contact their nearest court.

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, when practising Muslims abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn to dusk. ?Non-Muslim residents must respect Muslims by not eating, drinking or smoking in public places, streets or places of work?, the Interior ministry. ?If someone does not observe these requirements, the ministry will use its right to... deport them from the kingdom?, it added.