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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Rebels with conflicting causes |
| 2004-10-17 |
| Low whistles sound across the scruffy courtyard as the residents of Grozny doze through a sticky, mosquito-filled night. The men guarding this apartment building are signaling to one another that all is clear. They're not police or regular soldiers but lookouts for a Wahhabi Jamaat, an urban guerrilla group of about 20 men loyal to Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev. Unlike other Chechens fighting purely for their republic's independence, the Wahhabis want to create an Islamic state across the Caucasus and are almost fundamentalist in their outlook. They are deeply critical of the easygoing approach of more secular Chechen Muslims — and they are feared for their ruthlessness. The leader of this Wahhabi Jamaat is Jamal, a former welder in his forties. His past alcoholism shows on his ravaged face. The apartment is hot and muggy, the plastic sheets that serve as windows rustle in the wind and a sour smell drifts from the toilet. Most of Grozny has electricity these days, but four years after Russian air strikes practically razed the city there is still no running water. The atmosphere is sour, too. Gathered in the apartment are members of the two main anti-Russian factions: the Wahhabis and those aligned with Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen President overthrown by the Russians in 2000. Jamal knows he can trust the non-Wahhabi resistance not to betray him. But Maskhadov's men emphasize their disdain for the Wahhabi prohibition on alcohol and tobacco by drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes as Jamal talks. In late August, when guerrillas cordoned off parts of Grozny and killed at least 50 officials and paramilitaries associated with the Kremlin-backed government, Jamal's men were in the thick of things. His men are mostly in their twenties, unemployed and poorly educated, some of them former drug addicts who've gone straight under the influence of their new beliefs. They helped destroy two armored personnel carriers. But Jamal doesn't want to discuss in detail the Wahhabi's tactics. "The less you say, the longer you live," he remarks. He does hint at a highly secretive, tightly compartmentalized organization. "A man comes from time to time and passes on instructions," he says. The Wahhabis and the Maskhadov wing of the resistance tolerate, help and protect each other, but they don't like each other much. One of the people listening to Jamal is Aslan, a senior officer in the anti-Russian forces during the first Chechen war from 1994 to 1996. He's clearly still in touch with Maskhadov's guerrillas. Aslan recalls that after the first war, he and other officers suspicious of the Wahhabis' growing clout volunteered to help wipe them out. Maskhadov seemed to agree with the idea, Aslan says, but ultimately, "he was too cowardly to give us the order." These days, the Wahhabis are clearly the more powerful of the two rebel factions. Despite Moscow's claims that life in Chechnya is returning to normal, clashes between guerrillas and Russian forces take place daily. The day after the meeting with Jamal, the Russians announced that they were on the verge of capturing Maskhadov in a major operation south of the capital. Yet that very day, a senior Maskhadov commander felt comfortable enough to stop for a quick chat a short distance from the battle. "I don't think he's in any danger," the fighter said casually of his boss. Sure enough, Maskhadov escaped. If the guerrillas sound increasingly confident, the Russians sound more and more nervous. "On the surface the situation looks fine," says one Russian colonel. "But it could blow at any moment." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Low whistles sound across the scruffy courtyard as the residents of Grozny doze through a sticky, mosquito-filled night. lemme guess...BBC? NPR? Time? I swear I think there is just one guy who writes all this "dark and stormy night" crap. Sadly, it's just not the same without the sound clips of babies crying, sheep bleating and the sounds of foreign women talking as they clank on pans. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-10-17 9:14:49 PM |