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Another Imam Murdered In Daghestan


Local authorities in Russia's autonomous republic of Daghestan say another Muslim leader has been murdered.

Imam Gadzhi Aliyev, known as a moderate, was shot dead near his house in the central Levashi district by unknown assailants on November 11.

An investigation is under way.

The incident took place two weeks after unknown gunmen shot dead another Muslim cleric, Kalimulla Ibragimov, and two of his relatives in Daghestan's city of Derbent. Ibragimov was a self-styled imam who preached fundamentalist Islam.

Ibragimov's murder followed the killing of Daghestan's leading moderate Muslim Sufi cleric, Said Afandi Atsayev, in August.

Daghestan has become one of the most volatile republics in Russia's North Caucasus.

Islamic insurgents professing extreme forms of Islam regularly attack moderate Muslims, police, and officials.

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS

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