Chechnya: president killed

[Zedicus]

http://www.channel4.co.uk/news/2004/..._chechnya.html

Chechnya: president killed

Published: 09-May-2004
By: Stephen Smith



The tenuous peace imposed on Chechnya by Russian occupation is in tatters.



The country's pro-Moscow president was among 13 people killed in an attack on a military parade in Grozny.



Nobody has claimed responsibility, but five people have been detained. Stephen Smith reports.



The military parade was passing off with all due pomp. The Russian forces billeted in the Chechnyan capital, Grozny, were commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.



Ironically, Akhmad Kadyrov, on the bottom left of the podium, can seldom have been more densely surrounded by loyal troops.



As cameras filmed the crowd in the sports stadium an explosion, smoke filling the stands, rounds of gunfire were heard, apparently discharged by panicking security forces.



Officials said the bomb had been planted inside a concrete part of the stadium and had escaped security checks before the parade.



It was an audacious, mortal strike on the president, who appears to have been killed instantly. Also caught up in it were his closest aides - Russia's senior officers in the region were among the injured and Moscow's top commander here was reported to be fighting for his life after losing a leg.



Chechnyan politicians who have been forced to flee Grozny since the Russian invasion five years ago dismissed Kadyrov today as a stooge.



Elections last October brought the burly Kadyrov to power. Moscow hoped he would impose a firm rule on rebellious Chechnya.



He was no stranger to assassination attempts - nor did he lack for enemies. He once led rebels against the Russians so he was seen by his old comrades as a Judas.



Offering his condolences to the dead man's son, a grim-faced Vladimir Putin appeared to rule out any sudden change of policy over Chechnya, pointing out that Kadyrov had proved there could be be no equation, as he put it, between terrorists and the nation.



But Moscow's immediate concern will be to find and punish the bombers; in the absence of a claim of responsibility, prominent Chechen leaders have already been accused.

Not a good thing at all.....

[El Tejon]

And this is a surprise how?

Should not the headline read "finally"?

[Oleg Volk]

Probably did more good than offing fifty conscripts. That's the right away to fight war: go for the top.

[SodaPop]

Oleg, what's your opinion of that whole sitution with Russian and Chechnya?

[bountyhunter]

The documentary I saw said that the "rebels" trying to separate Chechneya into an indicidual state are Islamic in nature and aligned with Al Qaeda. Interesting if true, because Al Qaeda's stated plan is to topple wobbly governments and install Islamic regimes. This one does look ripe for the taking. Looks like Al qaeda is opening branch offices all over the world.

http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/chechens.html


Chechnya-based Terrorists
Russia, separatists

What terrorist groups operate in Chechnya?
Information about groups linked to the conflict in Chechnya is hard to confirm, but experts say the struggle is between local separatists—a loosely organized group, with semi-independent commanders—and the Russian Army. Chechnya’s long and very violent guerrilla war has attracted a small number of Islamist militants from outside of Chechnya—some of whom are Arab fighters, with possible links to al-Qaeda. Tens of thousands of Chechens and Russians have been killed or wounded in two costly wars in Chechnya, and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced.

[El Tejon]

bounty, yes, The Base is simply that, a base, a skeleton on which to build an Islamic utopia. They are a hydra with many diverse heads.

[Oleg Volk]

My impression is that Russia committed genocide against Chechens AND killed a lot of the Russian population as well. The claim of Islamic ties may be more true now or not, could be a way to cash in on the WOT indulgencies.