Tatarstan President says appeal to jihad leads to cleavage among Russian Muslims

The announcement of jihad in connection with the USA military action against Iraq declared by head of the Central religious board of Muslims of Russia Talgat Tajuddin leads to cleavage among the Russian Muslims, M.Shaimiev declared on Friday in the interview with Interfax.

"I know the awareness and alarm of the Tatarstan Muslims and Muslims of nearby regions in connection with the situation in Iraq and I am sure that among them there was no appeals to jihad or to other extreme measures", he said.

He said he did not know on what basis T.Tajuddin had accepted the responsibility to do make such an appeal on behalf of all Muslims of the Russian Federation.

He emphasized that Muslims of Tatarstan entirely and completely support head mufti of Russia Ravil Gainutdin and leader of Muslim Religious board ot Tatarstan Gusman-hazrat Ishakov who had expressed their protest in connection with T.Tajuddin's appeal to jihad.

M.Shaimiev thinks that we have to draw necessary conclusions from all ordeals our society has to overcome. "For last years I repeatedly offered to settle internal confessional conflicts. I mean the conflicts among the Russian Muslim clergy", M.Shaimiev said.

"Each time we somehow search for easy ways to decide most complex, sensitive problems of development of our multinational and multiconfessional state" he concluded.