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Five detained in Kazan on suspicion of murder & homicide attempt

These terrorist acts are designed to undermine the positions of traditional Islam in Russia
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

KAZAN, July 20 (Itar-Tass) — The condition of Ildus Khazrat Faiz, the Mufti of Tatarstan and the head of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Tatarstan, has stabilized after yesterday’s assassination attempt on his life.

The press service of the regional Health Ministry told Itar-Tass on Friday that doctors would allow the mufti to walk on crutches on Saturday, July 21.

“He’s lying in a separate intensive care ward at the Republican Clinical Hospital,” the regional Health Ministry went on to say. Doctors say the mufti’s swollen extremity was getting better.

Mufti Ildus Khazrat Faiz was driving his Land Cruiser when it was exploded at the intersection of the Chetayev and Musin Streets in Kazan at around 11:00 on Thursday morning. The mufti was rushed to hospital with injuries of various degree of gravity and was operated on. His two legs were broken.

The mufti’s former deputy Valiulla Yakupov, 64, was attacked in another part of the city approximately the same time. An unidentified gunman fired several shots from fire arms at Yakupov. He died of wounds in the passenger compartment of his car.

Rustam Minnikhanov, the president of Tatarstan, has announced a one-million-ruble reward for any information that could lead to disclosing the homicide attempt on Ildus Khazrat Faiz, and the murder of Valiulla Yakupov.

A hotline opened by Tatarstan’s Interior Ministry has received numerous calls, predominantly, from Kazan residents who gave the addresses of city mosques which, they believe, are frequently visited by the followers of radical Islam.

Five crime suspects have been detained in Kazan on Friday. They include Rustem Gataullin, 57, the chairman of the board of directors of the Idel-Haj company; Murat Galeyev, a 39-year-old resident of Kazan and the head of the ‘Vakf’ Muslim parish; Airat Shakirov, a 41-year-od resident of the Vysokogorsky district of Tatarstan; Azat Gainutdinov, 31, a resident of the republic’s Laishevsky district, and a 26-year-old Uzbek national, Abdunozim Ataboyev, who’s registered in Kazan.

Investigators are considering two versions: a conflict with followers of radical Islam and control over funds meant for sending pilgrims to the Haj in Mecca.

In the meantime, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has presented his condolences to the Mufti on behalf of himself and all Orthodox Christians in Russia.

These terrorist acts are designed to undermine the positions of traditional Islam in Russia. “With their unlawful actions the criminals tried to deal a blow at inter-religious cooperation which contributes to peace and public accord in this country,” the Patriarch said in his message.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church said Ildus Khazrat Faiz and his slain colleague had done a lot to promote a dialogue between Orthodox Christianity and Islam.

Patriarch Kirill also presented condolences to the family and relatives of Valiulla Yakupov. He added that both the Mufti and Valiulla Yakupov are known and respected by the Russian Orthodox Church.