LOC00:45
21:45 GMT
MOSCOW, June 7 (KUNA) -- Maksud Ibnugadzharovich Sadikov, rector of the
Institute of Theology and International Relations in Russia's mainly-Muslim
Dagestan republic, was shot dead by unknown assailant near his home on
Tuesday, the Russian International News Agency (RIA Novosti) reported.
Sadikov was one of the founders of the first academic institution in
Russia's volatile North Caucasus region to offer both secular and religious
teachings.
"According to preliminary information, Sadikov and his nephew were shot by
an unknown assailant by the entrance of his home in Makhachkala, capital of
Dagestan, when they were getting out of a car," the report quoted a local
police source as saying.
Commenting on the incident in a phone call with KUNA, Yuri Mikhaylov, a
Russian writer, condemned Sadikov's death as a serious escalation in the
activities of the terrorists seeking to destabilize North Caucasus region.
Sadikov, rector of the institute since 2003, sought to promote education as
an effective weapon in the fight against religious extremism.
He spearheaded a project to translate the Holy Quran into Russian and the
editorial board of the Imam Shamil encyclopedia, Mikhaylov noted, adding that
Sadikov was involved in politics and held various federal government posts in
the 1990s.
Sadikov's death is a favor to the forces seeking to tarnish Islam and
promote misinformation and unfair stereotypes on Muslims, he added. (end)
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