MOSCOW • Moscow city council members plan to support the opening of a chain of halal stores selling food products prepared in accordance with Muslim tradition, a councillor said yesterday.

The head of the council's religious and ethnic affairs committee, Igor Yeleferenko, said the committee had been approached for help by the Russian Council of Muftis.

He said the appearance of halal shops would also help foster tolerance.

"We should support representatives of all religious and ethnic groups. It means non-believers too will be able to buy wonderful fresh and tasty products," Yeleferenko said.

While details are still being worked out, the idea is that every district of Russia's capital should eventually have at least one halal shop, he said.

Planning assistance might be needed from the city council because such shops are unlikely to have the bargaining power of larger supermarket chains, he said.

Halal rules forbid among other things the consumption of pork, blood, land-dwelling carnivorous animals and alcohol. Yeleferenko said the shops would provide greater opportunities for non-Muslims to learn about Muslim culture, as they would be located outside the confines of mosque complexes.

"The more people learn about the traditions of others the less they will be fearful," he said. Members of Muslim minorities in Moscow have been subject to racist attacks, the victims often being from southern Russia or neighbouring central Asian and Caucasus states.

Almost 10 per cent of Russia's population are thought to be Muslims, although Yeleferenko was unable to provide a statistic for Moscow itself.