MOSCOW, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian law enforcers in Crimea have detained three leaders and four suspected members of an Islamist terrorist organization banned in Russia, the country's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday.
The detainees were members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami organization, which "carried out unconstitutional activities based on the doctrine of creating the so-called 'world caliphate' with the destruction of institutions of secular society and aimed at overthrowing the current government by force," the FSB said in a statement.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist organization which seeks to re-establish the Islamic Caliphate to create an Islamic "superstate", is banned in Russia and Central Asia.
According to the FSB, the suspects, "using conspiracy measures during meetings, spread terrorist ideology among the inhabitants of the Crimean peninsula and recruited local Muslims into their ranks."
A significant amount of Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami propaganda materials, means of communication, and electronic storage media used by the detainees in carrying out terrorist activities were discovered and seized at their places of residence, the statement said.
Investigators have opened criminal cases against the detainees, it said. Enditem
