Russian officals note increase in Islamic radicalism
Speaking on July 24 at a roundtable discussion in Nalchik, senior KBR Interior Ministry official Feliks Efendiyev said the number of suspected radical Islamists in the republic has risen since the October 2005 attack by militants on police and security facilities in Nalchik, and increasingly includes Slavs, regnum.ru and kavkaz-uzel.ru reported.
He said police have compiled a list of some 500 suspected radicals among a total of more than 5,000 practicing Muslims.
But Khazretali Dzasezhev, head of the KBR Muslim Spiritual Board, questioned the figure of 500 “radicals,” pointing out that police who monitor attendance at mosques may easily add to the list of suspected “radicals” young men of moderate beliefs.
State Committee for Youth Affairs head Boris Pashtov pointed out that the police are currently the sole agency engaged in battling religious extremism, and he urged local authorities to assume greater responsibility for doing so.
In neighboring Karachayevo-Cherkessia, police arrested two suspected religious extremists in Adyge-Khabl Raion on July 24 and confiscated arms and ammunition, kavkaz-uzel.ru reported.
| More from MNDwire
Stumble It!
