(Focus News-Bulgaria) Risto Karajkov - The Bulgarian Islamic community has also been experiencing divisions. One wing, led by the former head of the community, Nedim Gendzev, has been accusing its opponents (led by Fikri Sali) of spreading Wahhabism and having tight connections with the Netherlands-based Al-Waqf al-Islami Foundation, often accused of having links with al-Qaeda. Semi-legal Islamic schools are mushrooming throughout the country, delivering more radical teachings that differ from the traditional Islam practiced by Bulgaria's large Turkish minority. Kosovo's leading daily, Koha Ditore, wrote in November, "the phenomenon of 'Wahhabism' has assumed big and alarming proportions in all Albanian lands and in the Albanian diaspora in the West." The paper condemned recent acts of vandalism and desecration of graves aimed to eliminate inscriptions of names and photographic images, which is counter to Wahhabi religious doctrine.
2006-02-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive