Law enforcers removed cordon from Kislovodsk mosque

Employees of power bodies, who checked passports of the believers, who came to their Friday prayer (namaz), detained no one, said the Imam of the mosque in the dwelling settlement of Belorechensky.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today special agents cordoned off the above mosque. According to eyewitnesses, they checked documents of those who came to the traditional Friday prayer.

Law enforcers did not coordinate their actions with the Muftiate, Mukhammad-Haji Rakhimov, the Mufti of the Stavropol Territory, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to Mr Rakhimov, he was told at the administration of the city of Pyatigorsk that the check of documents was a pre-planned one.

The mosque was cordoned off by about 150 security agents; they did not introduce themselves, Yusuf Baichorov, the Imam of the mosque, has noted.

"They told us that it was enough that we saw employees in camouflage that came with them. They said that some people were in search and could be in crowded places; therefore, they were inspecting such places, and our mosque among them. No one was detained...," Imam Baichorov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that there had been no such raids in Kislovodsk before.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.