Turkmenistan's top Muslim leader has been dismissed, state media said on Wednesday, testifying to the perils of religious office in this hardline former Soviet republic ruled by President Saparmurat Niyazov.
Chief Mufti Kakageldy Vepayev was dismissed by a recently created religious council for "serious failings in carrying out his religious work and for his undignified behaviour," the former Soviet republic's Neitralny Turkmenistan newspaper said.
The announcement gave no details of the mufti's alleged failings. But it came amid tension between religious groups and Niyazov, who is seen as having ultimate control over appointments to Islamic institutions in this mainly Sunni Muslim country of 15 million people.
Vepayev had held the post for less than two years after taking over from Nasrullah Ibn Ibadullah, who was later sentenced at a closed trial this January to 22 years in jail for involvement in a coup plot in 2002, the Oslo-based religious freedom organisation Forum 18 has said.
Niyazov was Turkmenistan's last Soviet-era leader and has reined in devout Muslims in Turkmenistan, which broke from Moscow in 1991 and borders turbulent Afghanistan.
Although it is a crime to publically question Niyazov's policies, some Muslims have expressed unease at requirements that his Rukhnama, or "Spiritual Guide" be displayed alongside the Koran in mosques.
The Rukhnama, which blends nationalism, folklore and autobiography, is studied in mosques on Saturdays as well as in schools, universities and workplaces.
A giant mosque being built near the capital Ashgabat by French construction company Bouygues will feature inscriptions from the Rukhnama on its walls, officials have said.