The Chechen Connection

Newsday ^ | January 20, 2002 | Matthew McAllester

[sarcasm]

Kabul, Afghanistan -- A videotape found in a former al-Qaida residence here appears to buttress Russia's claim that Osama bin Laden's militant Islamic network has been backing rebels in Chechnya.

The tape, obtained by Newsday from a Kabul landlord, features bin Laden and a prominent but shadowy Arab militant who has played a leading role in the Chechen insurgency. It includes footage of ambushes and suicide-bomb attacks, main tactics of the Chechen rebels, and shows bodies of Russian soldiers, some of whom appeared to have been executed.

[Pericles]

fyi

[Pericles]

Exploiting a Jihad?

While a direct link to bin Laden is unproved, there are many strong hints that Chechnya’s war against the Russians is not just a local one

Fundamentalist fighter: A British-born man cradles a Kalashnikov in a Chechen training camp

By Eve Conant

NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

Oct. 31 issue — A group of about 100 armed Islamic guerrillas, some wearing balaclavas, gather in a circle in an unidentified forest in Chechnya. In a grainy scene from a videotape found by Russian intelligence agents, they are shown in the middle of a meeting led by Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev, some time after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. A black-bearded Basayev tells his soldiers, “We are under pressure to finish the jihad. We must be more organized, more disciplined.” The men nod in agreement.

IN FACT, the Chechen fighters—or terrorists, as the Russians call them—are already well organized. What began as an anti-Russian movement for self-determination mutated over the course of the 1990s into a jihad with the aim to Islamicize and liberate the Caucasus from Russian rule. Although that goal has not been met just yet—Russian troops have once again occupied Chechnya and small-scale battles are a daily occurrence—the organization and support from Islamic regimes abroad has invested the Chechens with a revitalized mission and much-needed funds.

Although outside experts doubt Russian intelligence service (FSB) claims that 70 percent of the fighters in Chechnya are mercenaries from Islamic countries, evidence does show that Arabs, Chinese Uighurs and Afghans continue to take part in the ongoing fight against Russian troops and the training of future militants in terrorist camps. The Islamicization of the conflict in Chechnya has seen the former Soviet territory attempt to adopt Sharia (Islamic law) and a strict Islamic moral code, with the hesitant approval of much of the populace. Russia’s FSB insists that the blame for this can be squarely placed on the shoulders of Muslim Brotherhood-sponsored groups, which, they say, have registered in 49 of Russia’s 89 regions under the guise of peaceful Islamic nongovernmental organizations. After the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, “they came in to fill the vacuum” says an FSB official. “They came to [the former Soviet republics of] Chechnya, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachai-Cherkessia,” he says. “We’ve had dozens of groups from Pakistan that come in, wearing white robes and telling locals that they are not learning the Quran correctly, that they have been sent by bin Laden.” These regions offered fertile ground for this message. Hard hit by post-Soviet poverty, they were areas where pensions and salaries were overdue and education standards low. Rumors of Osama bin Laden’s link to these emissaries and to Chechen guerrillas—in particular the Saudi or Jordanian-born field commander Khottab, who allegedly set up training camps in Chechnya—were so prevalent that at one point in 1999 Chechen officials had to vehemently deny rumors that bin Laden was in Chechnya as the guest of Khottab. The Chechens blamed the reports on disinformation spread by foreign intelligence agencies.

A direct link to bin Laden himself has yet to be proven, but there are many strong hints that Chechnya’s jihad is not just a local one. “Terrorist training centers did exist in Chechnya and still do,” says Alexei Malashenko, a Chechnya specialist with the Carnegie Moscow Center. “There are Arab instructors there, but not many. They teach both ideology and warfare.” Chechens, including Basayev, have traveled to Afghanistan, “but only a few small groups are known to have gone there for terrorist training,” says Malashenko. Mostly, they train inside Chechnya and get support from Chechens abroad, but “it is clear that some money from bin Laden made its way to Chechnya, although the amount should not be exaggerated.”

Chechnya’s jihad relies on low-tech weapons like land mines and Kalashnikov assault rifles, not helicopters and tanks. But it also seems to rely, or at least get some of its strength, from mercenaries and, according to the FSB, financial help from abroad. In 1999 the FSB, at the request of Chinese officials, detained and deported a Uighur, Kyrban Abdulauk, who, the service claimed, had studied in terrorist camps in Chechnya and was plotting a terrorist attack against the Chinese embassy in Turkey. The next year, two more Uighurs were detained and sent back to China. Confiscated videotapes obtained by the FSB—some of which occasionally turn up as “inspirational” items for sale in Chechen markets—show bloody attacks on Russian military convoys, with thorough documentation of the number of Russian soldiers killed.

One video shows the slow death of a Russian soldier and his comrades, with a 20-minute subsequent inventory of their corpses, military IDs, and Kalashnikovs—allegedly to obtain payment from Persian Gulf states for each slain Russian. Other confiscated materials include handwritten notebooks in Arabic and Russian detailing bombmaking and planting, gun maintenance and other fighting tricks. Another video tours what the FSB alleges was one of the several terrorist training camps in the Serzhen-Yurt and Urus-Martan regions of Chechnya, which Russian officials claim are now shut because of the present Russian military operation there.

The video includes Khottab and Basayev, Chechens, Arabs and at least one Asian carrying out war exercises ranging from firing off automatic weapons to running in formation on their supposed training center “graduation day.” The video is hard to verify, but perhaps even harder to fake. The FSB claims that students come from Kenya, Indonesia, northern China, Yugoslavia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and all over the Persian Gulf. When they complete their training, says the FSB, they return to form terrorist cells in their home countries.

So how have the Russians been fighting what the Chechens guerrillas describe as their jihad? Somewhat like the U.S. and Britain have so far been bombarding Afghanistan: as hard as they can and from the safest distance possible. This strategy has and continues to fail the Russians: after two recent military campaigns (one ongoing) they have yet to quell the guerrillas. The only military strength of their poorly trained recruits has been massive bombardment of both military and civilian area, prompting an outcry from Western governments. While Russian officials have long insisted that a hydralike terrorist network has been gestating in Chechnya, the West has focused it’s attention on human-rights abuses carried out by Russian soldiers. Until now. “Before Sept. 11, the West looked at us as if we were a totalitarian state,” Anatoly Kulikov, a former Russian Interior minister who also served as commander of Russian troops in Chechnya, told NEWSWEEK. “We were not offended. We know their position has now changed.” He’s right. If there have been any complaints about Moscow’s activities in Chechnya since Sept. 11, they’ve certainly been muted.

[MarMema]

One video shows the slow death of a Russian soldier and his comrades

Now why does this not surprise me at all?
Scum.

[MarMema]

Ping in case you are interested.
And thanks for your kind words and email, btw.

[MarMema]

You know I had just found this on a chechen newsgroup and posted it to you this morning under the Dagestan thread, along with my opinion that this should be front page news.

[MarMema]

ping

[MarMema]

ping

[MarMema]

ping

[MarMema]

ping

[MarMema]

Terror Suspect Has Reported Problem
The Associated Press, Sat 19 Jan 2002

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — One of five terror suspects identified by the FBI on a videotape, Khalid Ibn Muhammad al-Juhani, is a Saudi national who has been suffering from mental problems, his family told a Saudi newspaper Saturday.

The state-controlled paper Al-Watan quoted family members as saying al-Juhani got involved in the Afghan civil war in 1992 at the age of 18 and fought for three years before returning to Saudi Arabia.

`He was described then as suffering from mental problems believed to be the result of pressure he faced during the war,'' an unidentified relative told the newspaper.

Al-Juhani was one of five suspects shown on a video tape and photos released by the FBI last week as part of a public appeal for help in tracking down terrorists.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said the government tentatively identified four of the men as Khalid Ibn Muhammad al-Juhani, Abd Al-Rahim, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan and Ramzi Binalshibh. The fifth man's identity is not known.

Ashcroft said little was known about any of them except Binalshibh, a Yemeni whom officials allege was an associate of the Sept. 11 suicide hijacker Mohammed Atta.

U.S. authorities said they didn't know where the men are or whether they were killed in the war in Afghanistan. There is no evidence that they ever entered the United States. The Atta associate tried to enter the country three times last year but failed.

Ashcroft said the men were suspected of planning additional attacks.

The video tape was recovered recently in Afghanistan from the rubble of the home of Mohammad Atef, believed to have been the military chief of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Atef was killed by a U.S. airstrike in November.

Efforts to reach al-Juhani's family were not successful Saturday, but the paper quoted his relatives — none of whom were identified — as saying al-Juhani returned to Afghanistan in 1996.

He also spent three years in Chechnya fighting the Russian army, the family said. It wasn't clear when he was in Chechnya, or where he is now.

Al-Juhani was described by his family as a quiet, balanced man and was not interested in extremist groups.

Fusion, your words about this not being an Islamic war are fading into the sunset. ``It has not been determined what caused him to stray,'' a relative said.

[MarMema]

And what is this about, anyway?

MOSCOW, Jan 20: A special envoy of President Pervez Musharraf arrived in Moscow on Sunday with a personal message for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Interfax news agency reported.

Asfandyar Wali, due to stay in the Russian capital until Monday evening, will hold talks at the foreign ministry and State Duma, lower house of parliament, a Pakistan embassy official told Interfax.

Neither the Russian foreign ministry nor Kremlin would give any information about the envoy's schedule. His trip follows a visit last week by Pakistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Ahmad Khan, who explained measures by Islamabad to crack down on militant groups.

Musharraf on Jan 12 outlawed five extremist groups, including the two New Delhi holds responsible for a suicide attack on the Indian parliament last month that led to an escalation of tension between the two countries. Pakistan condemned the attack.

Russia said it welcomed Pakistan measures to curb religious extremism but that it expected more of the same.-AFP

[MarMema]

Also see this link

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

You can ping Fusion all you want, he won't answer.

I think they cut off internet service at his cell in Guantanamo Bay.

[MarMema]

Check this out.....

Father of Warlord Shamil Basayev Reported Dead The website Strana.ru, quoting sources in the pro-Kremlin Chechnya administration, said on Monday that the father of warlord Shamil Basayev was killed during the special operation conducted on Jan. 12 in the Kurchaloevsky district.

Security officials in Chechnya refuse to make official announcements concerning the death of Salman Basayev, however they say that "there are reasons to believe" that one of the people killed during the operation in the village of Akhkinchu-Borzoi was "a close relative" of Shamil Basayev."

FSB security service's head in Chechnya, Sergei Babkin, was quoted as saying that "the identity of the person killed is being checked."

If the expertise will confirm that one of the guerrilla killed in the village on Jan. 12 was indeed Salman Basayev, this will mean that another warlord, Jordanian-born Khattab, will also have lost a close relative. Security services' reports say that Salman Basayev adopted Khattab and helped him to strengthen his role in Chechnya.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

The father of the greatest fighting machine ever born could be dead?

. Will Basayev cut his Moscow trip short to attend the funeral? Shouldn't be hard as he only carries one light suitcase.

From what I've been reading, we were very myopic in our mission to destroy the Soviet Union. I think I liked the Cold War enemy much better and felt much safer.

[MarMema]

The father of the greatest fighting machine ever born could be dead?

Maybe it's something that will run in the family. We can always hope.

Will Basayev cut his Moscow trip short to attend the funeral? Shouldn't be hard as he only carries one light suitcase.

But isn't he missing a leg too, or something like that? We need to rename him....Pegleg, the Greatest Fighter that ever lived. He could get a patch over one eye and take up sailing?

[Pericles]

If captured by the Russians and put on trial will Basayev's ask for mercy on account that he is an orphan?

[Fusion]

Russian propagandists make a valiant effort to portray the Chechen nationalistic struggle for independence into a festering battleground of jihad. Fortunately serious observers are not fooled by these bush league tactics...

Yes, it is true that hundreds of Eastern Holy Warriors now swarm the Argun gorge and kill dozens of Russian criminals every week. However they are there to support the democratic forces of president Aslan Maskhadov as he continues to repel yet another ill fated Russian invasion.

And the Chechens are happy for the help since the West has turned their backs on them. As FDR commented about lend-lease to England during World War II -- "When your neighbour's house is on fire you don't argue about the garden hose..."

The dilemma of course is that the Russian can never win in Chechnya. His soldiers are not good enough to triumph against armed men fighting for their homeland. Even the much vaunted FSB has cut and run now -- their ranks devastated and their ability to provide intelligence operations now in shambles...

Thus if Russia can't win the Chechens eventually will. Unfortunately for the West, their neglect of the democratically elected forces of president Maskhadov has left a vacuum that Islamic entente entites may indeed ascend to...

Ouch!

Since the West will not intervene and force Russia to withdraw their campaign of genocide, the greatest fighter on the face of this earth must instead pinch hit to save all mankind. Shamil Basayev slowly making his way North with but a suitcase, Koran, and the knowledge that he is Allah's chosen to liberate all Chechens once and for all...

Putin just another Moscow punk in a cheap suit and a bad haircut cowering in his presidential bunker. He knows Shamil Basayev is coming to Moscow for an appointment with destiny and despite his thousands of criminal thugs is helpless to stop him.

Forecast for Moscow: Two thousand degrees and partly cloudy...

Russia must yield in Chechnya or be destroyed. The Islamic entente armies grow stronger with each passing day even as Moscow is humbled again and again on the battlefield. I am sure president Maskhadov will permit Russian officers to retain their sidearms if they surrender immediately...

Dry is good and wind is better...

The forces of freedom on the move. Europe trembles.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

The father of the greatest fighting machine ever born could be dead? Maybe it's something that will run in the family. We can always hope.

.I hope he is still around and continues to attract thousands of Jihadists. We can help Russia test new weapon systems in Chechnya for years to come as their will be no shortages of targets.

.Fusion is safe in Cuba until the trial.