highly Respected Russian Imam declare attack in 2-3 days
From NDTV india
Russian Muslim group declares jihad
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Thursday, April 3, 2003 (Moscow):
Russia's top Islamic leader said that his organization had declared a jihad, or holy war, against the United States. But the head of a rival authority said he wouldn't support the move.
Supreme Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin wouldn't say what specific actions the fight would take, but said the first results would be visible within two or three days.
"Russian Muslims have levers of efficient influence on the United States," a news agency quoted Tadzhuddin as saying. "For instance, we will raise donations for a fund and use the money to buy weapons for fighting America and food for the people of Iraq".
But Ravil Gainutdin, the head of the Council of Russia's Mufti's, a group that rivals Tadzhuddin's, disapproved of the move.
"It's enough that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has announced a jihad against America," Gainutdin was quoted as saying. "Religious leaders shouldn't get involved in populism or politicking. Instead they should pray for the termination of the sufferings of the Iraqi people".
Tadzhuddin, who heads the Central Islamic Department of Muslims of Holy Russia, said Russian Muslims had declared their last jihad against Nazi Germany after it invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.
An estimated 20 million of Russia's 145 million population are Muslims.
According to some analysts, the Kremlin's tough opposition to the war in Iraq has stemmed partly from concern that the fighting could rock Russia's internal stability and fuel Islamic extremism. (AP) |