03/30/2010 17:37RUSSIAThe Islamisation of the Caucasus, Putin’s workMoscow
is mourning today. The metro station bombings are rooted in Russia’s
decision to use force in Chechnya and reject an offer of dialogue made
by the late Chechen President Maskhadov. The attacks now raise concerns
about xenophobia and possible human rights violations in the country.
Moscow (AsiaNews) – It is still unclear who is behind
the Moscow metro bombings, a situation that might not be settled for
some time. Even though the involvement of ‘black widows” remains a
possibility, it has not been proven, despite what the media are saying.
However, the 39 dead clearly demonstrate two things, namely the failure
of Putin’s stabilisation policy (not only has Chechen terrorism not
been defeated, but it has now spread to Dagestan and Ingushetia) and
the Islamisation of the Chechen insurgency (now closer in outlook to
the Taliban than to an independence movement).
Today in Moscow is a day of mourning. Flags are
flying at half-mast, radio and TV have been suspended, and ordinary
people are laying flowers and candles outside the two subway stations,
Park Kultury and Lubyanka, where the attacks took place.
Police have been deployed across the capital’s
underground metro network as cities like Saint Petersburg Novosibirsk
also adopt tighter security measures.
The worst attacks of the last six years have been
blamed on rebels from the North Caucasus, 71 people are still suffering
the consequences of those incidents, five in serious conditions.
However, they did not come out of the blue. Chechen independence leader
and self-proclaimed Emir of the North Caucasus Doku Umarov had warned
on an Islamist website that jihad was coming to the whole of Russia.
That the conflict has morphed is not only
demonstrated by Umarov’s reference to Islamic holy war, but also by the
choice of targets, namely the transport system. The fact that the
Lubyanka metro station was also picked is another because it lies just
below Lubyanka Square, where the historic headquarters of Russia’s
domestic security service are located (in recent months Russian
security forces are known to have beheaded a number of Islamist
fighters). All this suggests that the Chechen insurgency is very
different from that of 1999-2004.
Then Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov led the armed
struggle against Russia but did not resort to terrorism. He maintained
a secular outlook and was open to dialogue, which the Kremlin
disregarded. Instead, Russian forces went for an all-out offensive that
is still causing daily casualties in the northern Caucasus and regular
bloodbaths in Russia’s heartland.
This has led to the radicalisation of the Chechen
independence movement. Groups notorious for using suicide bombers, like
that led Shamil Basayev and his successor Umarov, have joined forces
with the mainstream movement. Chechen rebels have thus become more
extremist in terms of ideology and modus operandi.
The newspaper Kommersant reported today that
Said Buryatski, a top Islamist commander from the Caucasus, could be
behind yesterday’s attack. Some reports indicate that a commando of 30
fighters, educated in Turkish madrassas and trained in Chechnya and
Ingushetia, was sent to carry out the operation.
The Moscow metro bombings are raising other concerns
as well. The attacks might actually increase the country’s high level
of xenophobia and provide those in power with an excuse to let the
security forces loose on the "terrorists”.
In fact, in Ingushetia relatives of known Chechen
fighters have already been visited by police. And in the Caucasus, a
visit by police very often means a round-up and people going missing.
(MA)
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/The-Islamisation-of-the-Caucasus,-Putin%E2%80%99s-work-18025.html