By Damir Ahmad, IOL Correspondent

MOSCOW , October 8 (IslamOnline.net) – A Russian Muslim organization has called for official investigation into “false” accusations by a Russian-Israeli rabbi that Muslims in the country are involved in the recent series of terrorist attacks.

The National Association for Russian Muslims (NARM) said in a statement, sent to IslamOnline.net Thursday, October 8, it had sent an official complaint about the anti-Muslim rants of Avrom Smulevich to the prosecutor general.

Smulevich claimed in an article published by the Otechestvo website that two Russian Muslim reverts were involved in the Beslan hostage-taking crisis, which left over 322, including 155 children, dead in September.

“Those two Muslim terrorists had participated in killing children and women in the Beslan school, hence all ‘terrorist’ Muslims must be kicked out of Russia ,” he claimed in a September 9 article.

Hardliner

Muslims reacted with fury to the charges, calling on the prosecutor general to open an official investigation.

“These claims are false,” read the statement.

Up to 40,000 Russian Muslims took to the streets to denounce the hostage-taking school tragedy in the southern city of Beslan . They were quick to strongly condemn the attacks.

Smulevich is the leader of the far-extremist Israeli “Bead Artseinu” movement, which says on its website that it is working against Islamic activities in Europe and the far East.

Smulevich has left Russia for Israel ten years ago where he now lives in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil ( Hebron ).

He has Russian and Israeli nationalities.

Mounting Attacks

The Russian Muslims have been under increasingly racist and violent attacks that take different forms from raping and body assaults to attacks on mosques, especially in the wake of the bloody end to the Beslan school crisis.

On September 16, a Muslim woman was found in a remote area in the eastern city of Asbest raped and tortured to death.

The 45-year-old mother of three was hit on the head by an iron device by unknown attackers, who wrote "Death to terrorists" on the back of her naked body.

Russia has a Muslim population of 23 million, representing roughly 15 percent of its 145 million population, according to a 2003 census.

Two million Muslims are residing in the capital Moscow .