Russia's Chechnya bans slot machines as un-Islamic

Moscow, Russia - Chechnya's Moscow-backed government has banned slot machines because they break the rules of Islam, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Itar-Tass news agency reported that Chechnya had around 1,000 gambling halls, following a trend set by other Russian cities where the "one-armed bandits" are popular.

The machines offended Ramzan Kadyrov, who is one of the top pro-Moscow officials in the region and heads thousands of troops tasked with battling rebels who have fought Russia for a decade.

"Yesterday evening Ramzan Kadyrov met with religious leaders and elders, and this question was discussed. They decided that these machines go against our traditions and corrupt our youth," a spokesman for Kadyrov said.

During the brief 1996-1999 period of de facto independence, Chechnya's separatist leadership imposed elements of Islamic law but since troops returned to the region nearly six years ago it has followed Russian secular law.

Kadyrov gave a week for all the gaming halls to close, and was quoted as threatening to shut them himself if his orders were not followed.

"Gambling contradicts Islamic traditions and negatively affects the education of the growing generation," he was quoted as saying by news Web site www.kavkaz.memo.ru.

"I give these bloodsucking businessmen one week. If they don't comply, I will smash their installations myself."