Muslim official killed in Russian troubled North Caucasus region

The body of Dagir Kachayev, 52, was found dead early Thursday morning, regional Interior Ministry spokeswoman Angela Martirosova said. Kachayev served as a muezzin, an official responsible for making the Islamic call to prayer at a mosque.

The mostly Muslim region on the Caspian Sea has seen increasing violence in recent years — some blamed on interethnic tensions, some blamed on criminal gangs and some blamed on fighting spilling over from Chechnya. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/