Muslims protest in Moscow against threat to raze mosque

Moscow, Russia - A small group of Muslims and rights activists rallied outside Russian government headquarters on Monday to protest the threatened destruction of a mosque being built in the southern city of Astrakhan.

The partially constructed mosque is next to the main road leading from the airport into Astrakhan, and protest organizers said authorities appeared to be annoyed that it would occupy such a prominent location, at a gateway to the city.

Russia's 20 million Muslims make up some 14 percent of the nation's population, but about half the 1.1 million inhabitants of Astrakhan province, which is home to the Volga Tatars, are Muslim.

Work on the mosque has been halted since last year, when the newly elected mayor said zoning rules had been violated. A local court has ordered the Muslims to dismantle the structure at their own expense by May 1 or face the bulldozers.

Regional official Oleg Popov insisted Monday there were legitimate safety grounds for the decision, pointing out that the mosque was close to high-voltage electricity lines. But he also said the demolition of the mosque was necessary because it was being built on land set aside for an apartment complex, the Interfax news agency reported.

"The courts are blindly supporting the administration. We can't even get local newspapers to print our views so we have been obliged to come here to Moscow," said the mosque's administrator, Asya Makhmutova.

"We believe we will be listened to and the federal government will help us, that is our hope," she said.

The threat to raze the mosque has heightened Muslims' concerns that freedom of religion is being trampled in an atmosphere of xenophobia fed by the Russian war against Islamic militants and separatists in Chechnya.

"This is yet another proof of the hypocrisy of authorities when they talk about defending the traditional religions. This would be the first time in decades that a mosque is destroyed in Russia," said Yevgeny Khlov from the group For Human Rights.

The protesters carried banners that read: "Shame on the Islamophobia in Astrakhan!" and "Russia is a multi-confessional state - Muslims are equal citizens."

Plans to construct the mosque across the road from a large Muslim cemetery on a 600-square meter (6,500 sq. foot) plot of land were originally laid in 1998.

The city administration granted a permit three years later.

But after a new regional governor and mayor took office in late 2004, licensing officials did an about-face. Last summer, just months after work finally began as a result of a major fundraising effort, the Muslim community received an order to halt the project.

The planned mosque complex foresees a large, domed prayer hall, an Islamic school, three other small buildings and a 37-meter (120-foot) high minaret.

"The new Astrakhan authorities didn't like the fact that a Muslim place of worship is in such a prominent place," said a statement by the organizers of Monday's protest.