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| Caucasus |
| Chechen religious leaders support upcoming referendum - Kadyrov |
| 2003-02-24 |
| Chechen religious leaders "have resolutely supported" the upcoming referendum on a draft constitution of the republic, head of the Chechen civil administration Akhmad Kadyrov said on Monday. Kadyrov said he had met with the imams of virtually all Chechen communities to discuss preparations for the referendum. The imams "clearly understand that a lot of the current problems in Chechnya cannot be resolved without a constitution and an elected president and parliament," he said. The Chechen imams "assume a firm civil position based on belief in the Most High and knowledge of the canons of true Islam and the situation in Chechnya," Kadyrov said. He called the imams "courageous people who explain the essence of events to the people every day at the risk of their own lives". I don't know how much of this is Kadyrov's propaganda and how much is genuine. It might be genuine, since the indigenous flavor of Islam in the Caucasus isn't wahhabi. But I don't doubt that the ones who favor some sort of normalization of the area are taking their lives into their own hands... Talking about security during the preparations for the referendum, Kadyrov said a set of measures have been devised to prevent serious provocation on the part of illegal armed formations. "Separatist propaganda will not considerably affect the people's desire to come to the polling stations," he said. He's probably right about that. The Kashmiris voted in spite of the campaign against them by the jihadis. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |