From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 2/13/2006 9:13 AM
 

The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Monday, 13, February, 2006 (14, Muharram, 1427)

Radicalization of Chechen Conflict and Arab Involvement
Faryal Leghari, Arab News —
 

There is a widely held perception that radical Islamist organizations have steered the Chechen secessionist movement toward the purported aim of creating an Islamic imamate in North Eastern Caucasus. Islam has always been an integral part of Chechen national identity and provided strong ideological and moral support, but was not the impetus behind the nationalist movement that started after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In this backdrop, it is also crucial to understand the extent and nature of the Arab involvement in the Chechen movement as it was alleged to have contributed significantly to changing the resistance from a nationalist movement to one tainted by religious radicalism.

Beslan, Moscow theater siege, plane hijackings and various incidents of suicide bombings are a chilling reminder of the festering conflict in Chechnya that confirm two things. First, Moscow’s ineptitude in winning the war against Chechen secessionism; and second, the acerbic reaction of the Chechens to the use of force and atrocities committed by the Russians in terrorist acts bringing the war to Moscow itself. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration to “bang the hell out of these bandits” and resort to brute force to suppress the resistance has led to a worsening of the situation. However, the conflict in Chechnya is not one to be crushed militarily. According to Gen. Aleksander Lebed, Russia is not “fighting terrorists and bandits, but a people”.

The danger of a regional spillover of the conflict and Russian theories about Islamic extremism spreading across the Caucasus have been further fueled by incidents like the threat of radicalization in Dagestan, Ingushetia raid in June 2004 by the Chechen resistance and clashes in Kabardino-Balkaria in October 2005, where dozens were killed. Locals across the region reject that these events are part of an evil foreign scheme; instead they see it as an extension of the Chechen separatist conflict and a reaction to Russian policies.

In 2003, the US Department of State designated three Chechen groups affiliated with Shamil Basayev as terrorists, and alleged that they had received millions of dollars from Al-Qaeda. Thus, the Chechen resistance movement became forcefully identified with terrorism, although the same statement did not categorize all Chechens as terrorists.

The change in the nature of the conflict during the period between the two Chechen wars was a result of deepening religious awareness, reaction to Moscow’s harsh policies and atrocities committed by Russian forces, as well as infiltration of foreign radical militants and their influence on the Chechen command.

Following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a number of people rallied to defend their fellow-Muslims. Later, following the call of Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, transnational Islamic brigades — under the name of Ansar or Azzam brigades and comprising of holy warriors from the Afghan war — were set up to defend front-line Muslim communities around the world.

The International Islamic brigade, who took part in the first Chechen war in 1994, was set up by Habib Abdur Rehman Khattab, a Saudi by birth. His aim was to radicalize much of the Chechen armed resistance and give it an extremist turn.

The exact number of foreign mercenaries fighting in Chechnya is unknown, but up to 300 Arabs reportedly took part in the war, according to Russian intelligence sources. The growth of this group’s power in Chechnya played a key part in precipitating the second war by an armed incursion into Dagestan in 1999 and consequently jeopardized all possible solutions for Chechnya’s independence.

The Arab involvement played right into the hands of the Russian leadership. Moscow interpreted all major conflicts or opposition movements as an Islamic threat and found it useful to implicate external sources for indigenous problems.

In this context, Russia’s recent attempts at being considered part of the Muslim world through membership to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is part of a strategic plan. With 20 million Muslims in Russia, Putin attempted to play the Islamic card when he addressed the OIC summit in Kuala Lumpur in October 2003. Moscow also sought to reverse perception in the Islamic world that it was pursuing anti-Islamic policies, especially in North Caucasia.

In light of the current political stalemate following a majority of Chechens rejecting the outcome of “predetermined” elections held in November 2005, the international community has a responsibility to address the crisis.

Moscow must be pressured to fulfill its political commitment of giving power to Chechens through a complete withdrawal of its troops and fair elections. The recent improvement of political and economic ties between the Muslim world and Russia could also serve as a tool to persuade Moscow to exercise prudence in dealing with Chechnya.

— Faryal Leghari is an assistant researcher at the Gulf Research Center, Dubai.
http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=77703&d=13&m=2&y=2006&hl=Radicalization%20of%20Chechen%20Conflict%20and%20Arab%20Involvement