Medvedev to meet North Caucasus muftis and leaders

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet North Caucasus muftis and regional leaders in his Black Sea residence on Friday to discuss the tense situation in the predominantly Muslim region.

It is the first time the president meets Muslim spiritual leaders jointly with secular governors.

Medvedev met heads of Muslim communities in Moscow in the middle of July and called for religious tolerance.

“In many regions of the planet extremist moods are on the rise and, unfortunately, extremist organizations are active also in Russia. This factor destabilizes the situation in our country and we have to take all measures to neutralize it,” the president said.

“Muslim religious organizations make a major contribution to maintaining civil peace and to spiritual and moral education of people, to the fight against extremism and xenophobia,” the president said.

On Monday Medvedev met Buddhist spiritual leaders and urged to refrain from foreign assistance in religious education.

“It is not necessary to receive any foreign assistance, we shall cope with all the problems ourselves,” he said.

Despite the economic crisis “our country is strong and economically versatile. Firstly, we shall endure all the problems and, secondly, we have our own resources to promote the development of traditional confessions, which have existed in Russia for centuries,” he said.

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