Dokku Umarov names the splitter among militants

Dokku Umarov, leader of North-Caucasian militants, has blamed Arabian mercenary Mukhannad for splitting the command of "Imarat Kavkaz".

In his video address dated August 29 and placed on the Internet resource YouTube on September 25, Umarov accuses Mukhannad of an attempt to sow a fitnah (strife) among advocates of jihad and dismiss Umarov from the post of the head of the "Imarat". According to Umarov, the address was recorded specifically for dissemination on the Internet.

He asserts that Mukhannad was against "Imarat Kavkaz" from the moment it was proclaimed. All this time, according to Umarov, Mukhannad had been trying, taking Iraq and Afghanistan as examples, to persuade mujahads of hopelessness of the emirate model, treating the misfortunes which befell these countries as a punishment from Allah for taking a wrong way.

For his actions Mukhannad will face the court of Shariat, promised Umarov.

According to Olga Bobrova, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta", the main reason for the video appeals, placed by Dokku Umarov on the Internet within the last two months, is in financial discords - various groupings are splitting the funds sent by Arabian jihad advocates to the Caucasus, the Radio Liberty reports.

According to political scientist Ruslan Martagov, Mukhannad's separatist activities can be explained by the fact that he and other young Chechen militants are unsatisfied with the elderly and sick Umarov, who, in their opinion, is no longer able to organize serious actions, the "Kommersant" reports.

According to Alexei Malashenko, an expert of the Carnegie Centre, the Arabian separatist Mukhannad is not a real rival for Umarov. "I can admit that Russian special services had played their role in this split and these contradictions: why not? Why not to quarrel them with each other? But, basically, I think the situation in the Caucasus won't change. After departure of Basaev, Raduev and some others, Dokku Umarov is the most famous of the remaining ones," Mr Malashenko gave his comment to Radio Liberty.

According to Alexander Cherkasov, a member of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the appearance of Dokku Umarov in the Internet and his appeals are the form of communication within the separatist underground. "It's a way of communication," Radio Liberty quotes the expert. "This is a form of dialogue, mainly, internal one. It's all inevitably making the 'Imarat Kavkaz' a network, not hierarchical, structure."

"Umarov is not the main one, but, probably, the first among equals. This particular network structure brings stability to the underground," Mr Cherkasov has summed up.