2012-04-24 15:00:00
Moscow, April 24, Interfax - The head of Russia's Council of Muftis Ravil Gainutdin told the United States Ambassador Michael McFaul about his concerns that Russian authorities did not always meet needs of Muslims when allotting land for building mosques.
"Unfortunately, there are officials of regional level, who don't understand the necessity to maintain stability in society, and satisfaction of religious needs is a foundation the stability is based on," Gainutdin said on Monday at his meeting with McFaul, the Moscow Muslim Board reported on its website.
Gainutdin said that the main "sore" point of Russian Muslims were difficulties with land lots for building mosques.
The ambassador pointed out that USA President Barak Obama called tuning relations with Muslim world a priority of foreign policy. He mentioned Obama's Cairo speech pronounced soon after his inauguration.
"It was a speech addressed not only to the Middle East, but to the whole Muslim world, and it was a very important step for the USA," Mcfaul stressed.
Developing the topic raised by the ambassador, the mufti said he expected the West would change its policy to Muslim world. "We hope that the West will be respectful to Islam states, Islam religion and culture as democratic society should respect and praise traditions of every nation," Gainutdin said.