Abu Havs, or Abu Hafs, according to the Sunday Times is, with Shamil Basayev, in effective joint control of the Chechen rebel movement.  Newly appointed leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev is merely a figurehead.

Abu Hafs was thought to have been heavily involved in the planning of both the Beslan school hostage taking, and last year’s… Read the rest

This Sam Vaknin article analyzes the economic costs to Russia of the war in Chechnya, which cannot be measured just in terms of money.  However, even leaving aside the tens of thousands who have died over the last decade, the bottom line is that it has cost Russia far too much already:

… Read the rest

Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev has been named as the successor to Aslan Maskhadov.  Shamil Basayev has openly declared his support, as have both London-based Akhmed Zakayev, and Maskhadov’s son, also in exile. 

Basayev confirmed that under a 2002 agreement between Maskhadov and other Chechen leaders, the former court chairman, whom he called Sheikh

… Read the rest

The death of Aslan Maskhadov, Chechnya’s rebel President, has handed Russia’s President Putin has a great opportunity to make moves towards a peace deal in Chechnya.  Unfortunately for him, though, the next step is not in his hands but in those of the Chechen military council, which is due to appoint a new leader within… Read the rest

The blogs have been pretty quick to react to the killing of Chechnya’s rebel President, Aslan Maskhadov, by Russian troops earlier today (see here for my report of the news as it broke).  Here’s a roundup of some of the more interesting posts.

Scraps of Moscow saw his evening viewing interrupted, and wonders who… Read the rest

News is just breaking that Chechen rebel President Asland Maskhadov is dead.  Colonel Ilya Shabalkin told the press that he was killed as a result of an operation by Russian special forces. Thanks to Pete Leonard for the heads-up.

Echo Moskvii (in-Russian) reports that he was killed in the village of Tolstoy Yurt, where… Read the rest

Konstantin asks why no-one ever considers what would come after a Chechen peace-deal with Russia.  He considers it for them, and comes to the unhappy conclusion that the conflict would become just another civil war, with Kadyrov, Maskhadov and Basayev all fighting for overall control:

The most obvious answer – Basayev will

… Read the rest

Update:  This post refers to Shamil Basayev’s interview with Channel 4 news in February 2005.  If you are coming to this post looking for news of Shamil Basayev’s ABC interview, check out my brief report here.

Kavkaz Center has a full, if badly translated, transcript of Shamil Basayev’s interview on British tv, which I… Read the rest

Update:  This post refers to Shamil Basayev’s interview with Channel 4 news in February 2005.  If you are coming to this post looking for news of Shamil Basayev’s ABC interview, check out my brief report here.

"In order to stop the genocide, we will stop at nothing." 

These were the chilling words of Shamil… Read the rest