14.02 Uzbek Mullahs Condemn �?Harmful’ St. Valentine’s Day

TASHKENT, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – Religious leaders in Uzbekistan condemned St. Valentine's Day celebrated by worldwide Friday as a harmful holiday that contradicts to Islam and local traditions.

At Friday’s prayers in mosques across the Central Asian state, mullahs said the tradition to celebrate the Christian romantic holiday is a result of propaganda of Western values in mass media.

“The holiday is just another reason that pushes people to fornication,” a mullah at a mosque in the Uzbek capital Tashkent said. He said the holiday encourages non-marital relations and provokes cheating.

Few people in Uzbekistan, mainly in big cities, celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, a Western European Christian holiday popular in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

An Uzbek religious expert called the holiday as an opportunity for businesses to make money on people’s feelings.

Local media have proposed instead marking the holiday in memory of warrior and poet Babur, who was born on February 14, 1483, in Uzbekistan's city of Andijan.