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Russia-Islam conference condemns US domination
KAZAN, Russia - Officials and religious figures from Russia and more than a dozen Islamic countries kicked off a conference here Wednesday that organizers said was aimed at deepening their dialogue and defending a multipolar world in the face of US power.Values cannot be imposed by force, Mintimer Shaimiyev, president of Russias mainly Muslim republic of Tatarstan where the three-day conference was being held, said in an opening address to delegates. The example of Iraq has shown that democracy can only be the result of internal development. Liberal values cant be exported like cars. A multipolar world without a system of equilibrium leads to tensions and civil war, Shaimiyev said. Representatives of more than a dozen Islamic countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, converged on Kazan for discussions led by former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, a veteran diplomat and respected Middle East expert. In addition to historically close ties with numerous Islamic countries, Russia has 20 million Muslims among a total population of 142 million. The country also gained observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2005, and should feel that it is part of the Muslim family, Ravil Gainutdin, president of the Russian Council of Muftis, told AFP. As a member of the UN Security Council, Russia will be able to actively defend the rights of Muslims and prevent rules being dictated that they oppose, Gainutdin said. The Islamic world wants Russia to return to the role the Soviet Union played in the Muslim world, Gainutdin said. The Soviet Union was a prominent supporter of Islamic countries in conflicts with Israel, including the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 and the October War between Egypt and Israel in 1973. For Ramil Yunussov, imam of the Kul Sharif mosque in Kazan Europes largest the conference was meant to overcome what he called a lack of understanding between East and West. It should explain the essence of Islam to Europe in a language Europeans can understand, Yunussov told AFP. Posted by: Steve 2006-08-31 |
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