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More than one million people may come out for protest in Chechnya against cartoons

The protesters will march from Minutka Square to the central mosque “Heart of Chechnya” named in honour of Akhmat-Hadji Kadyrov, where the faithful will pray

GROZNY, January 17. /TASS/. More than one million people may come out for a demonstration in Grozny on January 19 to express protest against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, the Chechen Republic’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on his website.

He urged all to come for the protest. He said up to 500,000 were originally expected to gather, but according to the latest information, the number may exceed one million. People from other Russian regions will also participate in the demonstration.

Kadyrov said he considered as his personal enemies all those who supported the right of the French weekly Charlie Hebdo and other publications to offend religious feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims.

“But we must not yield to provocations. Violence is not a way out. It is not our method of struggle against immoral people. We must show our unity and love for the Prophet. It is the best response.” Kadyrov wrote.

The demonstration Love for the Prophet Mohammad and protest against cartoons will be held in Grozny on Monday, January 19. The protesters will march from Minutka Square to the central mosque “Heart of Chechnya” named in honour of Akhmat-Hadji Kadyrov, where the faithful will pray. The republic's clerics have called for the protest.

In the past few days, new cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad were published by media of France and some other countries. Islamists attacked the editorial staff of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris after the newspaper published such cartoons. The attackers killed 12 people, ten editorial staff members and two policemen, and wounded eleven.

Protests against publications of cartoons of the Prophet took place in some African countries on Friday.

On Saturday, protesters gathered in the capital of Niger and set fire to seven Christian churches.