Boston Bomb Trail: Answers in Russia's Islamist South
The Boston bombing suspects lived in Russia's terror-riddled South before moving to the United States. Radical Muslims are still fighting for control of the region.

Islam Comes to the Classroom in Russia's Chechnya

REUTERS.COM: At school No. 20 in Russia's troubled region of Chechnya, boys sit on one side of the classroom and girls in headscarves on the other. All are silent as the new teacher rises to speak.

"Do you say your morning prayers?" Islam Dzhabrailov, 21, asks, wearing a green prayer cap and a plain tunic, religious dress that is increasingly popular in the mountainous province in southern Russia's mostly Muslim Caucasus region.

"It's just as important as doing your homework," he tells the students aged 14-15.

One of 420 teachers employed from madrasas to teach history of religion, Dzhabrailov is driving efforts by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to combat Islamist insurgency by implementing his own brand of Islam. In this Kadyrov has the backing of President Vladimir Putin, though some may harbor doubts about the man.

Against a background of stricter guidance on women's dress and wider acceptance of polygamy, critics say Kadyrov is defying Russian separation of religion and state and pushing Chechnya further from Moscow only a decade after federal troops ousted a separatist leadership there to reinstate Kremlin rule. » | Writing by Thomas Grove; editing by Ralph Boulton | GROZNY, Russia | Monday, October 22, 2012

Chechnya Gets 3 Prophet Muhammad’s Hairs

THE VOICE OF RUSSIA: The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has presented Chechnya with three hairs of Prophet Muhammad.

The holy relic was brought to Grozny from Istanbul last night.

Thousands of Muslims under Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov turned up at the airport and city streets to welcome the precious present. » | Vesti.ru | Friday, February 03, 2012

HT: Underdog News by Klein Verzet »

After Attacks in Russia, Fears of Xenophobia
Lilya Paizulayeva, a Chechen in Moscow, worries about profiling and said, “This whole week I have felt like a stranger in this city.” Photo: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MOSCOW — Lilya Paizulayeva descended into the subway anxiously, trying to keep her distance from the crowds and the newly deployed and heavily armed police officers. She cringed at the train’s loud metallic shriek, pressing herself to the wall.

She was not scared of suicide bombers — she feared being taken for one herself.

With her jet-black hair and large dark eyes, Ms. Paizulayeva, a 26-year-old native of Chechnya, looks very much the daughter of Russia’s fiery North Caucasus region, from where, investigators say, two young women traveled to Moscow to blow themselves up last week in the rush-hour throngs, killing at least 40 people.

While for many the attacks are an unsettling reminder of the female suicide bombers who have terrorized this city for years, women from the Caucasus, particularly from Chechnya, say they worry about the return of the arbitrary arrests, xenophobic attacks and open hostility that many experienced after similar terrorist attacks in the past.

“Psychologically, I feel a kind of alarm inside,” said Ms. Paizulayeva, who was born in Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, and fled to Moscow in 1995 with her family when the war there started. “Though I’m dressed like a local, I think that perhaps someone could attack me in the metro,” she said. “This whole week I have felt like a stranger in this city.”

Though Russian citizens, Chechens and others from the North Caucasus are often seen as foreigners in Russia, especially here in the capital, and are frequently associated with immigrants from the countries of Central Asia that were former Soviet republics. More than 1,000 miles from Moscow, Chechnya has its own language, religion and customs, as well as a history of violent separatism that many in the rest of the country find alien in the best of times and threatening in the worst.

There have already been several reports of revenge attacks against people from the Caucasus in the wake of the bombings. Last week a brawl broke out on a subway train when a group of passengers insisted on inspecting the bags of several people who appeared to be from the Caucasus, according to the Sova Center, an organization that tracks xenophobic violence.

Attacks against people with darker skin and hair typical of those from the Caucasus are not uncommon in Russia. >>> Michael Schwirtz | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Kremlin's Helplessness – Discontent Grows over Moscow's Impotency in Dealing with Terror: Following last week's terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro, Russians are now fearing a fresh wave of violence. Many feel the Kremlin has been hopeless in dealing with Caucasus terror and that the government does more to protect its own power than the people. >>> Matthias Schepp in Moscow | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Vast New Mosque Opens in Chechnya
Photo of the vast new mosque in Grozny courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A new mosque in the Russian region of Chechnya - described by the authorities as the biggest in Europe - has opened.

The Heart of Chechnya mosque has been built in the centre of the capital, Grozny - on a spot where civil war raged only a few years ago.

Hundreds of local people attended the opening of the mosque, which was built in memory of Chechnya's assassinated pro-Kremlin leader Akhmad Kadyrov.

His son Ramzan - the present ruler - led the inauguration ceremony.

Muslims played traditional instruments outside the mosque, built in the classical Ottoman style, and reminiscent of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. >>> | October 17, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>