Moscow News (Sept. 14-20): CHECHNYA’S MUFTI:  “THIS WAS NO JIHAD;  IT WAS A DECEPTION”

Sanobar Shermatova

Last week, Hajj Ahmad Kadyrov, the Mufti of Chechnya, had a talk with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin.  The mufti happened to be in the Government House, along with other spiritual leaders from North Caucasian republics, but  he was introduced to the Premier as the “head of the spiritual administration of independent Chechnya.”  The fact that the interview took place at all is sensational: Russian officials have long avoided negotiations with Chechen representatives, and Chechen representatives have avoided any kind of situation in which  Chechnya could be treated as just another North Caucasian member republic.  Why did the Mufti ignore this tacit taboo?  The answers are in this interview.

KADYROV:  I had come to Moscow for a meeting of the Coordinating Council of the Muslims of the North Caucasus, and as a member of the Council I attended a reception in Government House. The conversation [with Putin] was a comprehensive one. I said to Prime Minister Putin: “Let’s divide the blame for the war in Dagestan in half: half for you, the other half for the Chechen side. If we couldn’t cope with the job of throwing out those, so to speak, outsiders, you also saw what was happening.” The Premier couldn’t object. Neither the Chechen nor the Dagestani people want this war. But there are people who want it—on both sides. There are a lot of questions about this war, questions to which I personally can’t find any answers. I told Putin that if Russia had recognized our independence, this war would never have happened. Putin didn’t agree with me, but that’s my opinion anyway.

MN:  What is your attitude to the jihad Basayev and Khattab proclaimed in Dagestan?

KADYROV:  It’s a deception. I spoke on Chechen television right after the events in Dagestan began. I reminded all those who had forgotten that our neighbor’s [Dagestan’s] mosques were open and functioning at a time when our republic did not have a single mosque. Chechens went to their neighbors to find out on what day they should start celebrating religious holidays. And then, to go over there, and proclaim a “jihad”?! On television, I said:

“I swear, by the name of Allah, this is no jihad! Go and bring your deluded sons home from their units. Stop them.”  Who had ears to hear, heard.

I reminded everyone: We announced that our republic would be based on Sharia. But it isn’t yet. What do we have to teach anyone else? Let’s put our own house in order, and then we can say: Look, brothers, see what a paradise we are living in! But nobody wants the kind of paradise we are actually living in. The whole world knows what is going on here. And now we are introducing “order” next door.  Right. Thousands of refugees, whole villages destroyed...

But Russian leaders have to share the blame. Fine, let’s say, Russia does not interfere in Chechnya’s affairs, we are independent, we live the way we want to. But Dagestan is a part of the Russian Federation, and two Dagestani villages being bombed today two years ago introduced their own Islamic order, in no way compatible with the Constitution of Dagestan or Russian law.

MN:  Do you consider the guerrillas who are fighting in Dagestan to be religious?

KADYROV:  I find it hard to consider them Muslims. They reject everything new that has been created after the Prophet, calling it all bid’ah [innovation]. Well, for us, THEY are bid’ah: we never had them before! It’s useless to try to have a dialogue with them; they don’t listen to your arguments. They have concrete goals; a mission; a program. And that’s it.

MN:  Are there any unarmed Wahhabis? Do you reject the idea that there may be people who share their views, but don’t plan to go to war with anybody?

KADYROV: No. All these people are armed. In order to attain their goals, they deceive people, bribe them. And who supplies THEM? All these people went through Russian territory to get to Chechnya; and they travelled in groups.  Where was the visa control looking? Customs? I asked Putin that. There are so many questions here. Who backs them, and what do they want? Jihad? If the Dagestanis had overthrown their leaders, as we did in Chechnya, and troops were brought in, and everybody rose to fight, that would be one thing. But they are content to live with Russia, well, let them live with Russia, they’re not stupid. They lead a normal life, nobody forbids them to pray. You want a mosque? Fine, you’ve got one. You want a madrasah [Islamic school]? Fine, you’ve got one. And here we come, imposing an Islamic state on them. No, that’s politics, that’s all nonsense.

MN: Are you saying  the guerrillas have no religious goals?

KADYROV: I don’t see any. In the modern world, nobody imposes his religion on others. After the wars in the time of the Prophet, it was said that Islam had won all the space it required. And later it was said, “in faith there can be no compulsion.” And then, there is a political side to this question.

Islam says you should honor treaties and agreements. If the guerrillas had said, we are tearing up the Khasavyurt Agreements and we are declaring war on Russia, we could understand. But they didn’t do that.

MN: You are considered close to Maskhadov, yet your position differs from the official position of the Chechen authorities.

KADYROV: No, that’s not true. Chechnya’s official authorities have the same views I do. Remember,  official Chechen army units are not fighting in Dagestan. Those that are fighting there are not under Maskhadov’s control.  But the authorities should have spoken out and condemned the attack before I did. They didn’t.

MN:  Why not?

KADYROV: Good question.

MN:  What must be done to stop this war?

KADYROV: Uproot this evil, which cloaks itself in Islam. Keep it from being spread in all the republics that want to live in peace.

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Allah Ta'ala says in in Glorious Book what means:

"But if they incline to peace do thou incline to peace and trust in Allah. Verily He is the One who heareth and knoweth"

(Glorious Qur'an, al-Anfal 61)

Shaykh Kadyrov meets Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin for the negotiates of peace.

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Updates about the administration of
the Republic of Chechnya

Courtesy of Tevere News (Rome) on Novosti releases

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Attempt to martyrize the Mufti of Chechnya fail

Interfax (Feb. 01, 2001): A fresh attempt on the life of the head of the  Chechen administration, Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov, took place on Thursday night. 

A powerful bomb exploded as Kadyrov's convoy proceeded on a Chechen road. 

A member of his escort note a pile of rocks on the side of the road and ordered the convoy to stop. At that moment a powerful bomb exploded some 20 meters from the first car in Kadyrov's convoy. 

Kadyrov and his escort remained unhurt. The escort neutralized two of the attackers. 

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Shaykh Kadyrov accuses Maskhadov of ordering bombing

GUDERMES (TRJ- January 31, 2001) On Tuesday the head of Chechen civil administration Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov told the press about the assasination attempt made on him on Monday.

According to the Mufti, on Monday at around 5:00 pm msk a bomb exploded near his car as he was driving from Gudermes to Novogroznenskoye. Luckily, nobody was seriously hurt by the explosion, but Kadyrov was compelled to continue his journey in another car.

“We know who did it. Maskhadov has long since been ordering it,” he said.

According to Shaykh Kadyrov, the former-president of Chechnya has promised a reward of 200 thousand up to 1 million dollars for the life of the Mufti of Ahlu-s-Sunnah.

Shaykh Kadyrov declared: "It seems Maskhadov hopes that Putin would agree to hold peace talks with him once Kadyrov is dead."

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Shaykh Kadyrov appoints new Chechnya's PM

The interim administrator of the Republic of Chechnya, Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov, said on Friday that he has named Stanislav Ilyasov to head the Republic's government, RIA Novosti news agency reported.  

From 1997 until 1999 Ilyasov was the head of the administration in the Southern Russian Stavropol region. After failing to be elected governor of the region, Ilyasov became the vice president of an energy corporation. 

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Shaykh Kadyrov speaks about the future of the liberated Republic

RTN (Feb. 15, 2001): After his meeting with Russian President Putin on Saturday, the head of the Chechen civil administration Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov made a number of  statements about the immediate future, and also called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the devastated Republic. 

On Saturday, after meeting Putin in the Kremlin, Kadyrov said that he himself would take the final decision on the appointment and dismissal of the new head of the Chechen government. 

On Monday, January 15, Akhmad Kadyrov said he did not rule out that instead of the expected appointment of Stanislav Ilyasov, someone else could be appointed head of the Chechen government. “At present Ilyasov suits everyone, but only Allah knows what could happen tomorrow,” the Shaykh was quoted as saying by Interfax Monday. 

Shaykh Kadyrov confirmed that he had laid down strict conditions on Ilyasov and has demanded that he relocate to Chechnya together with his family. “I demand that from each member of my government. My family never left Chechnya and has stayed with me for all these years. If the family stays beyond the borders of the Republic, the soul of the prime minister or minister will be there with them.” 

The head of the Chechen administration has said that it is high time for federal troops to be withdrawn from the war-torn region since the military phase of “the counter-terrorist operation” has been declared completed. 

The Shaykh says the withdrawal operation should be carried out in several stages. He says the federal center should consider leaving behind only those units that are permanently stationed in the region and that the Chechen Suuni Chechen army be increased of other five thousand men. 

Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov is de facto reiterating the suggestions he made back in 1997, also put forward by his predecessors. In their times, both general Dzhokhar Dudayev and Chechen former-president Aslan Maskhadov said that the presence of federal forces in the region was only making complicating the post-war situation in the rebellious province. 

At the time the former commander of the unified federal forces in Chechnya Anatoly Koulikov and general Boris Gromov also spoke against deploying regular forces to settle conflicts within the Russian Federation. 

The chief of General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin recently suggested that the Russian Defense Ministry’s units be withdrawn from the from Chechnya and the Interior Ministry take over all law enforcement responsibilities. Kvashnin said that, “The military phase of the counter-terrorist operation has practically been completed.” 

General Kvashin today seems to be Shaykh Kadyrov’s key supporter in Moscow. 

However, the presidential envoy in the Southern federal district, general Viktor Kazantsev, is not a supporter of Ahmad Kadyrov, and instead backs his deputy, the mayor of Grozny Bislan Gantamirov. 

Local leaders in Chechnya have called on the federal center and Shaykh Kadyrov’s administration to start direct negotiations with Aslan Maskhadov. They even dare to question is dismissal, and suppose he legally remains the president, as long as a successor is not elected.

The Kremlin has remained silent, preferring not to make any sensational statements regarding the present situation in Chechnya. 

Analysts assume that the key problem concerning Chechnya is that there is no clear idea of the Republic’s future. What should the region be like after the war is over? Numerous reports on the issue, compiled by governmental experts are more concerned with promoting their authors rather than providing effective schemes for the restoration of the province. 

Also the authorities are afraid of repeating the mistake committed in 1997 when the Khasavyurt peace agreements were signed, whereupon Russian troops were withdrawn and all efforts to re-establish constitutional order failed. 

Shaykh Kadyrov’s Saturday statement also demonstrated that there is still no clear understanding of the term “counter-terrorist campaign” and of its goals. The situation in the Republic is far more complicated than the dry wording of military reports, abundant with phrases such as “successful disarmament of bandit formations” and “elimination of international terrorist bases”. 

The abduction of the U.S. citizen Kenneth and the subsequent decision by foreign humanitarian missions to suspend their activities in Chechnya, constant ambushes, shootings and attempts on lives of Sunni Chechens, human rights violations, uncoordinated actions of special services and military units are all testimony of the fact that the federal center has failed to introduce law and order in the local Republic. The risk is that withdrawing troops could lead to an escalation of bloodshed and lawlessness. 

Against the background of all these factors, a delegation from the Parliamentarian Assembly of the Council of Europe, headed by Lord Frank Judd arrived in Chechnya on Sunday to determine the future of Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe and to decide whether Russia's voting rights within the organisation will be reinstated at the forthcoming PACE session at the end of January. 

Lord Judd said at a news conference Sunday that the delegation would meet with Chechen civilians and with representatives of the civil and military administrations, including the Russian human resources envoy in Chechnya Vladimir Kalamanov. 

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Wahhabi terrorists lay weapons down in the Vedano area

RTN (Feb. 3, 2001): Fifty fighters are going to quit Chechnya's Vedeno Gorge and lay down their weapons in the next few days, head of the Chechen civil administration Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov predicted for Interfax on Friday July 7, 2000.

"These people have no relation to the Wahhabites and have been fighting for the independence of Ichkeria - the Sahykh said - they deserve forgiveness."

Shaykh Kadyrov said he believes that those fighters who have not been involved in kidnapping and murder have accepted his guarantees of security.

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Gantamirov refuses negotiating  with former-president Maskhadov 

RFE/RL Newsline (January 8, 2001): Speaking on 6 January at a conference in Grozny on the prospects for resolving the Chechen conflict, Grozny mayor Bislan Gantamirov announced that "we are going to act against terrorists using their own methods," including breaking into their homes and killing them, ITAR-TASS reported. Gantamirov said he opposes any negotiations with former-president Aslan Maskhadov, arguing that Maskhadov, together with field commanders Ruslan Gelayev, Shamil Basayev and Khattab, "commited high treachery against the Chechen people" and "plunged the Republic into a ruin." He said he will not seek election as head of the Chechen Republic but will heartily support the candidacy of interim administration head , the Mufti Shaykh Ahmad-Hadji Kadyrov.

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Ulema, Military Officials and Politicians Pledge Alliance to Shaykh Kadyrov

Moscow, 13 June 2000 (RFE/RL) - Russian military commanders and politicians today pledged support for Mufti Ahmad Kadyrov, who was appointed yesterday to head the administration of Chechnya. 

The commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus, Gennady Troshev, said the army will support Kadyrov, as did the chief of Russia's Federal Security Service, Nikolai Patrushev. Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov also said he approves of Kadyrov's appointment. 
 Kadyrov's appointment is a mistake. 

Meanwhile, Russia's military said 22 federal positions and police stations came under fire in Chechnya over the past 24 hours. Russian troops attacked rebels in the Vedeno district and in the southern mountains. 

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Shaykh Kadyrov Obtains a Seat in the Federal Council 

Head of the administration of the Chechen Republic Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov may work in the Federation Council but with a deliberative vote, Chairman of the commission of parliament's upper chamber for regulations and parliamentary procedures Nikolai Merkushkin said in an interview with RIA Novosti. 

He explained this by the provisions of the law On the Procedure for Forming the Federation Council which is now in force:  "He will have the same conditions as the other members of the Federation Council with the exception of a decisive vote", Merkushkin specified. 

According to him, the commission is prepared to submit a respective proposal to the July 26 meeting of the chamber. 

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Gantamirov Pledges Ahlu-s-Sunnah to Cooperate with the New Amir

 Former commander of the Chechen militia Bislan Gantamirov has been tapped to be first deputy to the leader of Chechnya's civil administration Akhmad Kadyrov.

Chief of the Russian General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin introduced Kadyrov's new deputy in Gudermes on Tuesday, Gantamirov's press service told Interfax.

Gantamirov will supervise all the Chechen Republic's armed structures, the press service said.

Agreement on Gantamirov's appointment was reached with the federal centre, presidential envoy to the Southern federal district Viktor Kazantsev and the Russian military, high-level Interfax sources have said.

Thursday afternoon Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the Kremlin with representatives of the ministries and head of Chechnya's provisional administration Akhmad Kadyrov, the presidential press office told RIA Novosti. 

The meeting considered the matters related to "law enforcement regulation in the Chechen Republic", indicated the press office. 

The meeting was attended by plenipotentiary representative of the President in the Southern federal district Viktor Kazantsev, Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev and Minister of Interior Vladimir Rushailo, General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov, Director of the Federal Security Service Nikolai Patrushev, Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Anatoly Kvashnin. 

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Agreement between Shaykh Kadyrov and PM of the Russian Federation

The Prime Minister of the Russian federation Mikhail Kasyanov met the head of the Chechen administration Akhmad Kadyrov, Kasyanov told journalists. 

According to him, agreement to hold a meeting was reached immediately after Kadyrov was appointed to his post. Kasyanov and Kadyrov will discuss current problems connected with the restoration of the economy in Chechnya, normalisation of life conditions and the transfer of affairs from the Russian government's mission in Chechnya to the administration of the Chechen Republic. 

Kasyanov believes that "people whom Kadyrov will invite to work should be competent, and the Finance Ministry and other federal department should render assistance in this." The implementation of decisions connected with the allocation of financial resources and technical equipment to Chechnya will also be discussed at today's meeting. "The main thing is that there should be no delays in the work which was done by the Russian government's mission in Chechnya up to this day," Kasyanov said. 

Kasyanov did not support the proposal made by the Chelyabinsk Region governor to the effect that constituent members of the Federation should stop rendering financial assistance for the restoration of the republic's economy in connection with the death of militiamen from the Chelyabinsk Region in Chechnya. "The Chechen people is not guilty for this, old men and children should receive help, housing and have the necessary conditions for life," the premier pointed out. "We cannot deprive people of having their minimal requirements satisfied", he added. 

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Imams from the 18 Regions Condemn the deposed leader of the Ichkeria Regime

At a briefing at the Russian Information Centre today, First Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel General Valery Manilov said that a meeting this week between the head of the administration of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, and the republic's Muslim religious leaders testified to the fact that bandits enjoy neither spiritual or social support. According to Manilov, Imams from all the 18 republic's eighteen regions were present at the meeting. 

Manilov stressed that the Chechen Ulema worked out their position at the meeting to demand that Maskhadov cease in his resistance and seek the forgiveness of the Chechen people for their misfortune and suffering. 

The only possible topics for negotiations between the federal centre and Aslan Maskhadov, leader of the former regime of Ichkeria, are surrender and the fighters ending their resistance, the Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky has said.

"Maskhadov's address does not contain anything new." Yastrzhembsky said in comments on Maskhadov's video-address in a Monday interview with Interfax.

"It is larded with traditional threats to Kadyrov, the Russian military and the federal authorities," he said.

"Threats are mixed with direct hints that only with him, Maskhadov, is it possible to do business in Chechnya," he said.

"I can repeat that any negotiations with Maskhadov are possible only on the issues of surrender and stopping the resistance," Yastrzhembsky concluded.

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Gudermessky, Nozhai-Yurt and Kurchaloevsky are  "Wahhabism-cleaned area."

A house was fired on in the Gudermes district of Chechnya where head of the administration of Chechnya Akhmad Kadyrov was expected to be. RIA Novosti was informed at the mobile detachment of the Russian Interior Ministry that in Mozdok militants in two Zhiguli cars (6th model) fired on, Sunday evening. The militiamen did not manage to stop the militants'car. The mobile detachment also reported that on the same day three servicemen were killed and 21 wounded as a result of the shooting out from the automatic weapons and grenade launchers of the road block of the interior troops in the village of Koshkeldy, Gudermes district. The militants fired from forest. 

On July 2, near the bakery, six staffers of the Gudermes district interior department tried to stop Kamaz. The truck did not stop on the signal of the militiamen and continued moving with large speed. The militiamen began pursuing Kamaz when shots came from it at the militiamen. The company's unit commander of the Gudermes district interior department, senior sergeant of militia was killed. A large truck was not stopped again. 

In the evening, the road block of the consolidated militia detachment of the main interior department of Moscow was shelled. It is situated in the town of Gudermes. The shelling was conducted from the automatic weapons and grenade launchers from the distance of 200-250 metres. One staffer of the militia consolidated detachment was killed, four wounded. 

In early November 1999, with the help of Allah Ta'ala the Chechen Mufti A. Kadyrov declared the Sunni Chechen district of Gudermessky, Nozhai-Yurt and Kurchaloevsky a "WAHHABISM-FREE AREA." In several Chechen settlements, where self-defense units have already been formed, local inhabitants have been able to push the foreign Wahhabi mercenaries out. Kadyrov still relies on The Islamic Regiment commander Yamadayev, who is in charge of the Gudermes Front.

The head of the Russian Information Center, Mikhail Margelov, has described as "the long-awaited beginning of political settlement in Chechnya" the latest developments in Gudermes, whose inhabitants expressed their willingness to talk with federal authorities and cooperate in quitting the Wahhabi sedition and bringing life in Chechnya back to normal. In an interview with RIA Novosti, Margelov confirmed that Mufti Akhmed Kadyrov, delegated by Chechnya's Gudermes community to represent the Chechen people at negotiations with the federal government, is arriving in the Russian capital on Wednesday. 

Kadyrov's mission in Moscow, if it is carried out, attests to the fact that they are beginning to see the light in Chechnya, Margelov pointed out. This is an essential condition for the beginning of a political process in the republic. We must come to realize the importance of the event--the "peaceful transfer of power in Gudermes, which is a symbol of Moscow's new policy in Chechnya, if you will," our interviewee said. 

Following the event, all talk about the search for partners to negotiate with seems weird, said the Russian Information Center chief. Real negotiations with real people tired of living under bandits are already underway. These are serious negotiations since power has been trasferred peacefully as a result, he pointed out. 

This is where the main difference lies between the Gudermes dialogue and the talks with Aslan Maskhadov, Margelov said. As he sees it, all that the negotiations with Maskhadov could lead to was the Khasavyurt agreements, with the federal government now having to deal with their consequences. He said Maskhadov is in no position to fulfill one simple condition for talks to begin--to extradite the terrorists--as he cannot or does not want to resist them. 

The latest events in Gudermes mark the long-awaited beginning of political settlement, the interviewee noted. There will be negotiations with representatives of the Chechen people rather than foreign Wahhabi puppets. The federal center sees no alternative to what is now being done by its forces in Chechnya. A majority of Russia's population understands and supports its government's present policy vis-a-vis the republic, opposing the prospect of talks with Maskhadov, the Russian Information Center chief told RIA Novosti in conclusion. 

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The Martyr Mufti of Ahlu-s-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah in Chechnya

His Eminence Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov al-Gudermesi

A short biography, hafazah-Ullah

Al-Hajj as-Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov, hafazah-Ullah, is 53 years old. After getting a diploma from the Bukhara Madrasah, he graduated in Divinities from the Islam International University in Tashkent. In 1989 he opened the first Islamic Institute in the North Caucasus, and was its rector until the Russian-Chechen war began in 1994. He fought as a volunteer against the Russian federal forces and in 1995 was appointed Mufti of Chechnya in Vedeno. He has been already been known for his uncompromised loyalty to the 'aqidah of Ahlu-s-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah, and for his firm opposition to the Wahhabi heretic sect. In the past three years there have been four attempts on his life and on the noble lives of his students. During the last but one attempt, a number of his bodyguards were killed, three of whom were his own relatives. May Allah Ta'ala open for them the gates of al-Firdaws. From that time on, Shaykh Kadyroiv was also referred as "the Mufti of Shuhada". He was martyred by Wahhabi terrorists on May 9, 2004. May Allah have mercy of him.

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