Islamic Committee demands from Kremlin to stop oppressing Moslems in Northern Caucasus

The Islamic Committee of Russia has put forward five requirements to the country's leadership: admit Moslems to formation of home and foreign policy of the country; ensure free elections to power bodies in the republics "with the indigenous Muslim population", first of all in Northern Caucasus; admit Moslems to mass media; reconsider politically-motivated criminal cases against Moslems; and stop prohibiting Islamic books, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

These requirements were sounded today by the chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia Geidar Dzhemal in a press conference on the topic "Have Russian Moslems any future?" the "Rosbalt" News Agency reports.

According to Mr Dzhemal, the republics with traditional indigenous Muslim ethnoses" are experiencing "the most violent pressure" on the believing youth: "The political power there is usurped by local corrupted clans. In doing so, they rely on support from the centre. And this reliance on such support brings pernicious harm to their own nations. They resort to shedding blood of the youth."

Geidar Dzhemal has promised to formulate the announced five requirements in a letter to Russian authorities and campaign for gathering signatures in its support.