Kadyrov asserts Umarov is incapable, people abroad worry for safety of Sochi Olympiad

Some experts believe that Dokku Umarov, leader of North-Caucasian underground, has managed to unite Islamic rebels and organized their respective infrastructure; however, in the opinion of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, Umarov is incapable and "dies from famine." Along with that, after the terror acts committed in the country with participation of suicide-bombers, opinions are expressed that because of the terrorist activity, the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi located in the centre of the Caucasian Mountains are under threat; while sources in Chechnya report new traffic of military columns in various directions.

Opinion: terrorism of Caucasian militants may hamper Sochi Olympiad

Some experts assert that Dokku Umarov, leader of North-Caucasian underground, has united Islamic rebels and organized a proper infrastructure. Based on this opinion, The Christian Science Monitor concludes that Russia now has a network of militants-Islamists deployed, who prepare a new wave of attacks in the central part of the country, the "InoPressa.ru" reports.

The authors of the article emphasize that it may be more difficult to pacify Islamists than to tackle with so-called Chechen fighters for independence. According to Nikolai Petrov from the Carnegie Centre, quoted by the newspaper, the powers of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev are rather limited in this aspect: "He needs to demonstrate toughness and resolution; but at the same time he wants to avoid escalation of events in Northern Caucasus."

As a result, Mr Medvedev called, in the course of his last visit to Dagestan, to severely punish terrorists and asked local Muslim clerics to expel militants from their religious communities. However, as the paper writes, the state of affairs in Dagestan remains depressing: about 80 percent of the population fail to support local leaders - proteges of the Kremlin.

Along with that, opinions are expressed that because of the terrorist activity the Sochi Olympics are endangered; the city is in the very centre of the Caucasian Mountains. A journalist from Canadian The Toronto Star writes: apart from the instable North-Caucasian republics of the Russian Federations, in immediate proximity there is Georgia with its tense atmosphere after the recent military conflict with Russia. And a 15-minute drive to the south there is Abkhazia - another disputable territory recognized by very few countries, apart from Russia.

In the opinion of the article author, never before the place of would-be Olympic Games was located within such hostile environment. Besides, ecological problems and unacceptable working conditions at the Olympic construction sites, and recent terror acts have shown that there is one more essential problem, which can hamper the 2014 Winter Olympics, - terrorism.

"Sochi will become terrorists' target directly or indirectly; and the city will face broad-scale operations to prevent this sort of actions," the paper quotes a respected analyst, who is specializing in security issues in the West and who is now in Northern Caucasus.

He has noted that Russia is capable to cope with this problem and ensure safety of the Olympic Games. However, guerrillas, as he said, have their own advantages: there is no need to attack the objects in the city of Sochi. They may commit a terror act in any other place to create a feeling of instability and threat, having thus won paper and news agency headings.

Kadyrov: Dokku Umarov prepares his self-undermining

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov asserts that the leader of Caucasian militants Dokku Umarov "is dying from hunger" and plans a self-liquidation, as nobody obeys him.

"Umarov, what does he look like? He is a sick old person. He can't walk by himself," Ramzan Kadyrov said in the evening on April 7 in his interview to the NTV programme "Late Talk". He referred to some video record confiscated by power agents in the course of a special operation against the armed underground.

At the same time, President of Chechnya expressed an opinion that Umarov had taken responsibility for the terror acts committed on March 29 in Moscow metro in order "to provoke in Russia persecutions against residents of North-Caucasian region, and force peaceful citizens pursued by law enforcement bodies to start supporting militants for spite of power agents."

Observers mark increase of military traffic in Chechnya

In the meantime, local observers mark that in recent days the republic has seen an essential increase in the number of military columns moving in different directions. "Recently, we see much more military machines moving along local highways and roads; not just military trucks and militia UAZ minivans, but also armoured troop-carriers (ATCs)," a local expert told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

As to Mr Kadyrov's statement, he noted: "I remember last year our authorities promised that in the winter militants in any case would die out from famine, because all the places of their possible presence were reliably blocked. But since this year the situation hasn't changed radically, it turns out that militants have safely lived through the winter."

A power agent, who took part in special operations against militants in the mountain part of Chechnya for many times, said that he had never seen a member of the armed underground with any attributes of excessive leanness or dystrophy.

"If we remember what was confiscated from their hideouts, we can judge that bandits have no special problems with food. As a rule, they have high-calorie and rich with proteins and carbohydrates foodstuffs; chocolate, capable to quickly restore energy, is especially popular. And where and from whom do they get it - the question which was not answered during all these years," said the power agent.