KAZAN, Russia — Islamic clerics in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan have accepted Mufti Ildus Faizov’s resignation and appointed a 28-year-old imam of a local mosque to replace him.
With the appointment, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov told journalists in Kazan that Kamil Samigullin is capable of leading Muslims in the republic.
However activists of Azatlyk (Liberty) Youth Alliance rallied in the republic’s capital to protest against Samigullin’s appointment, saying that local citizens have to elect their religious leader themselves.
Faizov said he was resigning due to health problems.
In July 2012, Faizov was injured in a car bombing and his former deputy, Valiulla Yakupov, was shot dead.
The attacks in Kazan were carried out by suspected followers of radical Islam.