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| Caucasus |
| Kadyrov assassination has al-Qaeda hallmarks |
| 2004-05-11 |
| THOUSANDS of mourners yesterday flocked to the funeral of pro-Russian Chechnya President Akhmad Kadyrov, whose assassination on Sunday appeared to bear the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda operation. The mourners paid their respects in Kadyrov's native village of Tsentoroi, in the country's south, where mourning ceremonies were expected to go on for three days after the explosion at Grozny stadium, which the Grozny emergency medical centre said killed a total of 24 people. Russian authorities put the figure at six. With the killing of a man whose election was engineered by Moscow in an attempt to give international legitimacy to the puppet Government in Grozny, Russia now faces a political vacuum. This will make its attempt to extricate itself from the Chechen quagmire immensely more difficult. The timing of the bomb blast is of enormous significance. It came on the anniversary of VE Day, always a solemn occasion in Russia. On this day the country remembers its victory over Nazi Germany and the 20 million war dead. The focus since Soviet times has been on the armed forces, honoured for their heroism. To choose this day to humiliate Russia's army in the centre of Grozny was a deliberate show of defiance in the face of years of heavy-handed military operations in Chechnya. The daring and expertise in placing a bomb right beneath the VIP stand at Grozny stadium suggests meticulous planning. Mr Putin has long insisted the rebels are backed by foreign Islamist extremists, and recently Moscow has produced evidence that some Chechen leaders have been working in close co-ordination with al-Qaeda. Washington, although concerned by Russia's tactics in Chechnya, has classified the separatists as part of the anti-Western Islamist terrorist movement. The explosion is almost certainly the promised revenge for the Russian murder of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, the exiled Chechen militant who was blown up in his car in Qatar in February. The killing of Kadyrov was a top priority for the rebels, who have not forgiven the former separatist leader for throwing in his lot with the Russians. Islamist militants see that as tantamount to deserting his religion, for which the penalty is death. Sergei Abramov, Chechnya's Prime Minister, was named yesterday as acting president, but initial reaction from Mr Putin's camp to Mr Kadyrov's death showed he would find it hard to continue attempts to let Chechens run Chechnya. Russia insisted yesterday it would not change course in Chechnya, and Mr Putin has repeatedly said that there will be no talks or negotiations with the separatists. But although his popularity remains high and his tough line on Chechnya is widely supported, the festering problem blights a range of policies. It will make it harder for Mr Putin to push through urgent military reform or to instil a greater degree of professionalism in the army. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |