MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russian nationalists and immigrant workers from the ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan are to meet in Moscow for a game of football aimed at defusing ethnic tensions, the Kyrgyz ambassador said on Wednesday.
Raimkul Attakurov told a news conference that the match, the date of which is yet to be agreed on, would most likely take place at a police sporting facility.
Although the nationalist group concerned was not named, Russian media speculated that the ambassador had in mind the ultra-right Slavyansky Soyuz (Slavic Union) movement, headed by Dmitry Demushkin.
Attakurov held talks with Demushkin last February, inviting the leader of the Nazi-inspired group to Kyrgyzstan. After his trip, Demushkin told the BBC that Kyrgyzstan was one of the few countries where the people "related well to Russians." He subsequently called on his followers not to attack Kyrgyz immigrants.
A football match was also mooted after the talks, but no game was ever held.
Russian human rights organizations condemned the talks between the Kyrgyz ambassador and Slavyansky Soyuz, saying that there was a danger they could lead to the political legitimization of the extremist group.
The Russian non-governmental organization SOVA reported that at least 14 people died in race-hate attacks in Russia this spring. In December 2008, nationalists decapitated an immigrant worker from Tajikistan and left his head in a garbage dump.
