Rome, Moscow weigh in on Osama's death

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Moscow Patriarchate has joined the Vatican in warning against rejoicing over the death of Osama bin Laden, who was killed on 1 May by the US-led operation. "The Russian Orthodox Church does not share the joy that we have seen in some countries - Archpriest Georgy Roschin, deputy head of the Patriarchate's department for relations between the Church and society told Interfax - whoever dies, be he the greatest evil or the greatest terrorist, he will be judged by God alone. "

The priest does not see the killing of the head of al Qaeda as solving the problem of terrorism itself: "The main issue is making the right decisions and celebrating achievements aimed at resolving the problem in general and not removing a member of a group terrorist”.

However the reaction of the supreme mufti, the spiritual authority of the of the Muslims of Central Russia, Talgat Tudzhuddin, has been the opposite. He says he was delighted at the killing of the sheikh of terror. "This is the only way to deal with international terrorism," said the Muslim leader. 'Probably bin Laden was not the only one to foment extremism among the Wahhabis - added Tudzhuddin - now we must think about how to truly eradicate global terrorism. "

Asked whether there are many followers of Osama in Russia, the mufti replied firmly: "Absolutely not. The majority of Russian Muslims will not accept extremism. " "Our country - he continued - is giving a good example of how Christians and Muslims can live together, thanks to the Russian Orthodox Church. The faithful of Islam and Christianity have long since found a happy medium in Russia, which allows us to be brothers without opposition. "

The chief rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar, also spoke with strong words about elimination of the most wanted terrorist in the world, describing the episode as "a triumph of justice." "We fully support the idea that people who despise the value of human life should be destroyed," said the rabbi.