Russia's Muslim Chechnya leader seeks second wife
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:53 GMT
MOSCOW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The leader of Russia's Muslim Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said on Thursday he is looking for a second wife in addition to his present marriage, weighing into controversy on the place of Islamic customs in the region.
"I am currently looking, but I just cannot find a beautiful one. If I do, I will immediately get married," the Kremlin-backed Kadyrov told popular daily Komsomolskaya Pravda in an interview.
The Kremlin credits Kadyrov with maintaining a shaky peace in Chechnya, theatre of two separatist wars since 1994, and relies on him to keep insurgents in check amid a growing Islamist insurgency across the mainly Muslim North Caucasus.
Analysts say that in return he is allowed to implement a radical vision of Islam, which at times contradicts Russia's secular constitution. Polygamy is forbidden by Russian law.
"If there is love, then four wives are allowed," Kadyrov said, adding that four is the limit since "sharia", or Islamic law, forbids taking more.
Kadyrov's administration asked last week that state workers wear "Muslim dress" to work on Fridays and that women wear long skirts. The "recommendation" expanded on an edict Kadyrov issued in 2007 that banned bareheaded women entering state buildings.
Though in violation of Russian law, the edict is strictly enforced today.
A spate of attacks last year on women for not wearing headscarves on city streets in Chechnya angered women who said being forced to dress a certain way violated their rights.
Assailants who said they were under instructions from spiritual authorities targeted some women with paintballs.
After years of communism opressing religion, Russia's Muslim regions are undergoing an Islamic revival, enjoyed by Muslim leaders and rebels alike.
The Kremlin is watching uneasily as central power yields to Islamic tenets in the region. Some analysts say this overlap is dangerous, and could lead Chechnya back to autonomy. [ID:nnLDE67O0S0]
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