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Russia's Fear of Radical Islam Drives Its Support for Assad

It was no coincidence that Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria just hours after twin attacks on moderate Muslim officials in a central Russian republic last week, writes Amal Mudallali. Russia does not see itself as an ally of Assad, but as a target, like him, of an extremist Salafist terror plot to destabilize Russia. 
Russian investigators work near the scene of a car bomb blast in the city of Kazan July 19, 2012. The most senior Islamic official in Russia's largely Muslim Tatarstan region was wounded in a car bomb attack and his deputy was killed in a separate shooting on Thursday, law enforcement officials said.  REUTERS/Aleksey Nasyrov  (RUSSIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW RELIGION)

It was no coincidence that Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria just hours after twin attacks killed a moderate Muslim official and injured the Mufti in the central Russian republic, Tartarstan, last week. Russia sees the assassination as a direct attack on moderate Islam by Islamic radicals. And the veto, Russia’s third since the Syrian crisis began, is grounded in a deep-rooted policy of war against one enemy: Islamic radicals.

Russia supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because of a strategic relationship and what it views as the same fight in Syria and Russia against the Salafi and extremist Islamic threat.

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