The Chechen Resistance: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

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There is currently a danger that under the influence of old dzhamaat leaders such as Abdul-MalikMezhidov and Usman Akhmadov, the question of rehabilitating those dzhamaat groups that hadbeen accused of acting against the Chechen resistance leadership would be raised once more.This occurred in the summer of 1998 in Gudermes when several detachments under SulimYamadaev, later supported by many respected Chechen commanders, clashed with units of theSharia Guards and the Islamic Special Forces Regiment. The rehabilitation question has beenraised frequently, and at the start of the second war dzhamaat members actually demanded thatAslan Maskhadov repeal the orders outlawing the activity of the radical dzhamaat groups.Despite this, neither Maskhadov nor Sadulaev have ever repealed the orders banishing andoutlawing these groups. This refusal to make concessions suggests that the leadership thinks thatit currently has the upper hand, and that a majority of public support no longer comes through thedzhamaat groups. The situation in Pankisi suggests that almost everyone wants to deal with themain resistance leader, instead of the ambitious and ill-defined local dzhamaat commanders whohad moved outside of Chechen territory. They often did this so as to control the delivery of aid,and thus make themselves an important factor in the resistance once again.The demographics of the dzhamaat have also changed. The initial glut of young men who likedthe uniforms, the money, and a sort of mystique that came with being opposed to those in chargehave been replaced by those who know what the dzhamaat is and who it represents. It no longerrepresents young men who were taken with the élan that these forces represented. Thus, it isnow filled with those who are able to ideologically defend their ideas, obey their leaders, and arecapable of overcoming Chechen traditions without any real difficulty. This is crucial, sincemany men were unable to abandon their loyalty to Chechen traditions and customs no matterwhat happened.In a sense the relationship between the dzhamaat and the Chechen republic is yet unclear.Because of the occupation by Federal Russian forces this question is not currently relevant, butthe question has been delayed by the current situation. There's a significant chance that this issuewill split those who fight against Russia today. The people who will most probably foment sucha schism are those who are now living outside of Chechnya, but still trying to remain politicallyrelevant.Chechen Dzhamaats in RussiaThe form of social organization implicit in the dzhamaat is now irreversibly present in the entireof the Russian Federation. Moscow and other large cities have dzhamaats that unite Chechensand Ingush, as well as other North Caucasian nationalities. However, the typical dzhamaat isgenerally formed along narrow ethnic lines so that people who are separated from theirhomelands can come together in order to share their ideas and feelings. These are not terroristorganizations and are not organized in order to act against the state, but are diaspora groups thatdo not wish to affiliate themselves with those who officially proclaim the pro-Russian inclinationof the Chechen youth. In many respects, these dzhamaats are very different, as the members areoften well educated or still studying in colleges and universities. They do not accept theprinciples of the Kadyrov administration and often create websites that sharply condemn thosewho cooperate with Kadyrov and Alkhanov.It is often these groups that are targeted by the Russian special services, since it's assumed thatthey are part of those dzhamaats that are actually fighting in the North Caucasus. This inabilityof the Russian government to distinguish between these more missionary-style dzhamaats and6
the radical dzhamaats that are actually part of the rebellion often promotes the feelings ofalienation and bitterness that lead to their gradual association with the genuinely radical andmilitant dzhamaats.It should be remembered that dzhamaats are ethnically heterogeneous. There are groups formedby Dagestanis, Tatars, Bashkirs, even ethnic Russians who have converted to Islam, whichmakes the dzhamaat not a purely Chechen concept. Even the label itself of "Chechen" or "Tatar"generally depends on the ethnic background of the group's founder. The largest dzhamaats existin Moscow, in the Urals, the Volga region, and in Siberia, where people have experienced plentyof hostile treatment from a suspicious government. These victims of the authorities in theseplaces seek to change the entire social structure, particularly since the government sees thesedzhamaats as solely structures that fights Moscow's rule in Chechnya itself.The young members of the dzhamaats have created many websites that reflect their emotions andproselytize Islam in the only form understandable to them – the Salafi school. They alsocondemn the followers of Sufism and the official clergy who, according to them, undermineIslam as a religion through their unislamic behavior.Foreigners in the Resistance MovementToo much emphasis has been placed on the presence of foreigners in the Chechen resistancemovement. The Russian authorities often use this to show a link between the resistance andinternational terrorism. The first international volunteers appeared in Chechnya in 1995, havingarrived from Tajikistan after the beginning of the war. One of the first was Sheikh Fatkhi (aChechen from Jordan) and Emir Khattab (an Arab from Saudi Arabia). The former created thefirst dzhamaat for non-Chechen combatants and put forth an example emulated by all otherdzhamaat groups that have sprung up in the republic. The latter became the founder of theforeign fighters' battalion within the Chechen military. Fatkhi's dzhamaat became very popularand many Chechens enlisted into it. Khattab’s battalion, meanwhile, was a structure that wasgenerally composed of non-Chechen nationals. In a training camp built next to Avtur village,representatives of almost all ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union trained under the directionof instructors provided by Khattab. These instructors had entered Chechnya in 1996 andgenerally came from Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Here they trained their charges not only inmilitary maneuvers, but also in the basics of Salafite Islam.Khattab's role later shifted, and he provided financial support for his training camp and hisimmediate supporters. While it's often alleged that Khattab was a leader of the Salafites inChechnya, he always indicated that his job was purely military, and that he did not deal withpolitics or religion. It would have been impossible to acquire funding from across the wholeworld without some ideological base, but President Maskhadov recognized Emir Khattab'sneutrality in 1998 after the Sufi-Salafi conflict. In fact, Khattab and his comrades were amongthe few foreigners not ejected from the republic on the president's orders. 5By the start of the second military campaign, foreign fighters composed only a small portion ofthe total military strength of the resistance. Many left in 2000, believing that staying wastantamount to suicide. Many romantically-inclined younger men who had come to help theChechens were stopped at the Russian border and the long wait necessary to sneak across theborder disappointed them, which led them to leave Georgia or Azerbaijan having never set footin Chechnya. While websites worldwide called for aid to the Chechen mujahadeen, this was7
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Page 23 and 24: ENDNOTES1 According to the "Kavkazs

The Chechen Resistance: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

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