Chairman of Dagestan Committee on Religious Matters stands for dialogue with militants

Today, the Committee on Religious Matters under the Government of Dagestan held a press conference. Chairman Ahmed Magomedov met journalists.

Mr Magomedov has stated that in general the confessional situation in the republic can be characterized as stable.

Concerning the fight on the religious-political extremism, Ahmed Magomedov has stated that he is an advocate of a dialogue between the authorities, militants and their ideologists; however, he doubts of the efficiency of such dialogue.

"In the time after the 'perestroika', under the orders of Dagestan leaders I personally repeatedly met Bagaudin Magomedov, ideologist of Wahhabism, and leaders of the Karamakhin Zone, but the meetings finally were fruitless, as our counterparts put preliminary conditions before the authorities, including those of religious character, which could not be fulfilled," the head of the Committee has noted.

In continuation of the topic, it was noted that certain religious provisions in the modern "secular" Dagestan cannot be set up as the law. Mr Magomedov has informed the audience that with the aim to exclude any autocratic censorship, when certain religious literature is banned, the Committee will form in the near future a special Board of Experts.

As to negotiations with militants, this idea is supported by Svetlana Isaeva, chairperson of the NGO "Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights", in whose opinion such talks can become a precondition for stop of bloodshed and settlement of armed confrontation in the republic. "The aim of such dialogue is to give militants a chance to get back to peaceful life," Ms Isaeva said at the press conference of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial" held in Moscow on November 24 on the topic "Safety and Human Rights in Dagestan".