03 December 2005, 17:40
Local residents demanding imam's release
A spontaneous public meeting is under way in front of the building of the Achkhoi-Martan district administration in the district centre currently. Residents of Achkhoi-Martan are demanding that Mr Ali Khaskhanov, an imam at a local mosque, abducted earlier today, supposedly by officers of a law enforcement or security agency, should be released, the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society reports.
Mr Ali Khaskhanov was abducted in the afternoon in a village street while going home. Unknown people in masks driving several cars seized him, threatening weapons, and brought him away. Mr Khaskhanov is a great authority for villagers and hundreds of people have gathered to hold the public meeting to protect him. The central square of the village is currently flooded with people and a great number of cars. Participants in the public meeting believe that the abducted man may be kept in custody by one of the law enforcement and security agencies in the district centre.
