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Kuwaiti Islamic Movement Holds Rally In Support Of Chechnya
KUWAIT CITY, March 31 (AFP) - More than 1,000 Kuwaiti Islamists held a rally Friday in support of Chechen Muslims as a scheduled visit by a Russian parliamentary delegation to the emirate failed to take place.
The rally heard speakers denounce Russian atrocities in Chechnya and strongly deplore the policies of newly elected President Vladimir Putin.
"This is a message to the Russian leaders who killed our brethren in Chechnya for the sake of ballot boxes," the head of one Islamic group told the crowd.
Other speakers at the rally, most of whom were Islamic MPs, called on Muslims around the world to support their brother Muslims in Chechnya. They also strongly condemned the "double standards" adopted by the West on human rights issues.
"Congratulations to the U.K., U.S.A. and E.U. for democratic Putin in democratic Russia," read one of the placards in English.
Meanwhile an official visit by a Russian parliamentary delegation, which was scheduled to start on Friday, was cancelled "because the head of the delegation was admitted to hospital," a parliamentary source said. There was, however, no official announcement of the cancellation.
Kuwait's parliament last month urged the international community to halt the "atrocities" committed by Russian troops against the Muslims of Chechnya. “The sad and tragic atrocities and killings by Russians of Chechen Muslims are a clear violation of international standards and the principles of human rights," legislators said in a statement approved by the government.
A Kuwaiti killed fighting alongside Chechen fighters during an attack on Russian forces in the Muslim republic in February has been described by one legislator in the Gulf state as a hero of Islam.
Another Kuwaiti national was killed last September in the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan, where he had been fighting alongside mujahideen.
But Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah denied accusations by Russian security officials that the oil-rich emirate had been financing mujahideen in Dagestan.
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