'Voices From Afghanistan' Exhibit Profiled In 'The Washington Post'

"The Post's" Style section highlights the exhibit at the Library of Congress, which showcases some of the thousands of handwritten scrolls and letters sent in by listeners to RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan. More

By Country / Russia

Fatal Explosion Rocks Moscow Market

August 21, 2006

(RFE/RL)

August 21, 2006 -- An explosion at a Moscow market killed at least seven people today and injured several others.

A spokesperson for the Emergency Situations Ministry says the blast hit the Cherkizovsky market in the northeastern part of the Russian capital at about 10:30 local time.

The ITAR-TASS news agency, citing unnamed police officials, said a gas-cylinder malfunction may have caused the blast. The Interfax news agency quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying terrorism is not suspected in the explosion.

(compiled from agency reports)

About sharing

TEXT SIZE - +

Russia's Changing Face

A mosque in Baksan, in the Russian Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (RFE/RL)

THE COMING MUSLIM MAJORITY: On February 28, Russia expert PAUL GOBLE, vice dean of social sciences and humanities at Concordia-Audentes University in Tallinn, Estonia, gave a briefing at RFE/RL's Washington office. Goble said ethographers predict Russia will have a Muslim majority "within our lifetime." Since 1989, Russia's Muslim population has increased by 40 percent, Goble said, rising to some 25 million self-declared Muslims. He said 2.5 million to 3.5 million Muslims now live in Moscow, gving Moscow the largest Muslim population of any city in Europe. Russia today has more than 8,000 mosques, up from just 300 in 1991. By 2010, experts predict, some 40 percent of Russian military conscripts will be Muslims.
Goble noted that these changes have been accompanied by a "rising tide" of anti-Muslim prejudice. Public-opinion surveys reveal that up to "70 percent of ethnic Russians" express sympathy with xenophobic slogans. Goble warned that heavy-handed state efforts to "contain Islam" could backfire and cause groups to move underground, "radicalizing people who are not yet radicalized."