Muslim cleric shot dead in southern Russia

MOSCOW, Sep 26 (Reuters) Gunmen have shot dead a Muslim cleric in Russia's southern spa town of Kislovodsk, Interfax news agency reported today.

It quoted police as saying the assailants fled after killing the imam of a mosque late yesterday in the doorway of an apartment block where he lived.

Around the same time, Interfax said, a police officer was wounded when trying to stop two armed people in the street.

Police do not rule out that the two might have been the killers.

Kislovodsk, like many parts of southern Russia, has a strong Russian nationalist Christian community which eyes with suspicion the growth of a Muslim population arriving from the impoverished Caucasus region.

Ethnic tensions in many parts of Russia have become a cause of concern for authorities, alarmed by the increase in racist attacks.

REUTERS PB VC1205