The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee has announced that the Shawwal moon could not be sighted in Pakistan on Thursday, and that Eidul Fitr will be celebrated throughout the country on Saturday, April 22. The announcement was made in the federal capital by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad who presided over a meeting of the central moon-sighting committee. Meetings of the zonal moon-sighting committees ended earlier in the evening, with no reports of the Shawwal moon being sighted by any zonal committee. The councils had already predicted earlier that Eid is likely to be celebrated across the nation this year on Saturday, April 22. The council’s Secretary-General, Khalid Ijaz Mufti, had said that the birth of the moon is expected to take place on Thursday, April 20, at 9:15am Pakistan time. The age of the moon at sunset during evening hours will be 9 hours 33 minutes and 12 seconds. While the sun is expected to set at 6:49pm, the moon is likely to go beyond the horizon at 7:10pm. This, said the expert, alongside other technical factors, renders moon sighting to be unlikely on Thursday.