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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| Islamist group threatens Kazakhstan over religion law | |
| 2011-10-27 | |
ALMATY: A previously unknown Islamist group has threatened ex-Soviet Kazakhstan with violence unless it abolishes a new law that bans prayer rooms in state buildings in the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation, a US-based online monitoring service said.
The veteran leader and other senior Kazakh officials say the new law is aimed at stamping out Islamist militancy but it has been criticized by Kazakhstan’s top Muslim cleric and the West. US-based intelligence monitoring group SITE said a group calling itself Jund Al-Khilafah (Soldiers of the Caliphate) had issued an Arabic-subtitled video, dated Oct. 21. In the video, four masked fighters with submachine guns and a grenade launcher are seen standing behind a fighter reading a speech in which he demands the Kazakh government abolish the law. He said the law bans prayers in state institutions and the wearing of headscarves. The new Kazakh law on religious activity actually makes no mention of wearing headscarves. “In the event you insist on your position then we will be forced to make a move against you,” said the fighter, whose face is also masked by a scarf. “Know that the policy that you are following is the same that was applied in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt; however, as you have seen, it only caused loss to those who exercised it,” he said in a reference to a string of “Arab Spring” revolutions that toppled long-serving dictators. The threat from the hitherto unheard-of radical group appeared to be the first direct threat to Kazakh authorities after the adoption of the much-discussed law. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |