25 August 2009, 23:00
Chechen separatists sentence Ahmed Zakaev to death
Separatists of Chechnya have sentenced one of their emissaries Ahmed Zakaev to death. In their opinion, he betrayed Islam, having recognized the legitimacy of Ramzan Kadyrov's government.
"His public statements prove that he has quitted Islam. The court has ruled that to kill this apostate is the duty of every Moslem," says the militants' statement as quoted by the Reuters with reference to a separatists' website.
On August 24, La Stampa wrote that increased activity of militants in Chechnya and Ingushetia, including terror acts committed by suicide bombers in Grozny and Nazran, may have to do with an attempt to disrupt the negotiating process commenced by the speaker of the parliament of Chechnya Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov with Ahmed Zakaev. "It's possible that someone would not like Zakaev to control anyone in Grozny," the paper notes.
Use of suicide bombers for terror acts, as reported by the author of the article, makes thinking about Islamic rebels, but "the iron fist, with which Kadyrov operates his republic, has transformed the conflict in the Caucasus into a mix of anti-Russian separatism, radical Islamism and clannish conflicts."
