New President of Chechnya Sheikh Abdul-Halim: Who Is He?

Today marks the end of three days of mourning for Aslan Maskhadov, the president of Ichkeria, who was killed on March 8. The ceremony took place in Baku, where Maskhadov's son Anzor lives. In honor of his father, he promised to buy the largest bull in the market, slaughter it, and distribute the meat to the poor. Participants in the ceremony believe that the elder Maskhadov had come to realize his days were numbered and took revenge on the Russians in advance by naming as his successor a radical Wahhabist, who not only permits, but also gives religious and ideological grounds for, even the most brutal terrorist act.
For obvious reasons, Maskhadov's relatives did not dare to organize a ceremony of mourning in the Chechen village of Zibir-Yurt (Shelkov District) where he was born and raised. They were forced to break with Muslim tradition and hold the ceremony in Baku, which is home to one of the world's largest Chechen communities in exile. Maskhadov's 29-year-old son Anzor was the organizer. In the courtyard of the five-story apartment building where he lives with his wife and son, Chechens set up wooden benches and tables, set out simple refreshments on them, and for several days received visitors arriving to offer prayers of condolence.

An especially large group of sympathizers – about 300 people – gathered yesterday. Journalists showed up first, followed by the police, who did not interfere with the event but threatened the organizers with unpleasant consequences that would certainly ensue if the ceremony turned into a political action. As a result, the Chechens were forced to restrain their emotions somewhat; they even abandoned the idea of setting up a huge colored tent in the courtyard especially to protect the guests at the tables from rain.

But they did leave the karlag. Translated literally, it means “mountain of curses”, but is actually an ordinary stake driven into the ground. Each mourner must throw a stone at it or simply spit, while cursing those who betrayed the murdered man and are thus guilty of his death. For now, the curses are addressed to certain abstract shaitans who betrayed the president, but according to the participants in the ceremony, these people must be found without fail and punished, as demanded by the customs of blood feud.

The mourning ceremonies will end today. On the third and last day of the ceremony, Anzor Maskhadov promised to buy the largest bull in the local market, slaughter it, roast the meat over three huge fires and distribute the treat to the poor, so that they will also pray for the deceased.

The name of Maskhadov's successor as chairman of the State Defense Committee was also officially announced at the ceremony. The new Chechen rebel leader is Abdul Halim Saidulaev, a 37-year-old Islamic preacher from Argun. No one protested Maskhadov's decision, but his choice caused some bewilderment among the people gathered there.

Strictly speaking, the self-taught Abdul Halim, who comes from a simple peasant family, is not an alim teacher [a religious teacher], much less a sheikh. He has never had any religious or political authority at the republican level. The highest position Abdul Halim has ever held is spiritual leader of the Muslim community [jamaat] in his native Argun.

Thus, Saidulaev is far from being a resistance leader of Maskhadov's status. However, while remaining the shadows, he was always close to real warlords like Shamil Basaev and Movladi Udugov. He formed especially close relations with Shamsudin Batukaev, the former chief justice of the Sharia Court of Chechnya. This is the source of the story that Abdul Halim allegedly replaced Batukaev in this position, when in fact he was never even a member of the Sharia Court.

The warlords brought this ordinary self-taught man from Argun closer to them, because unlike genuine religious teachers or sheikhs, he openly supported terrorist acts and killings as a means of carrying out jihad. Furthermore, in his sermons, Abdul Halim gave certain religious and ideological grounds for crimes committed by terrorists, as if lessening their sins. The warlords also added Saidulaev's political program for the creation of an Islamic state in the Northern Caucasus to their arsenal. Basaev, for example, continues to argue for the advantages of a so-called caliphate.

At the same time, the “moderate” separatist Maskhadov was always suspicious of the radical Wahhabi Abdul Halim. In any case, he did not admit him to leadership positions in the resistance. The president of Ichkeria's attitude towards Saidulaev did not change in recent years, but nevertheless, Maskhadov publicly named him his successor. In the opinion of the participants in the mourning ceremony, this was a forced measure.

“Aslan understood perfectly well that his political line directed at negotiations with Moscow had reached a dead end,” one of his friends told Kommersant. “As a result, he found himself in complete isolation with his attempts to resolve the Chechen problem by diplomatic means. Both the feds and Kadyrov's followers accused him of terrorism, while the radical fighters under Basaev criticized him for cozying up to Moscow in the hopes of getting mercy for himself and his family. In the end, Maskhadov realized that, in this situation, both stood to gain by getting rid of him and he started thinking about a successor.”

In our informant's opinion, appointing one of his supporters with moderate views on the problem to this position simply made no sense. Such a candidate would inevitably meet with the same fate as Maskhadov. Not long before his death, the third and last president of Ichkeria was forced to admit that “only a radical can rally the resistance around him in the present situation.” This explains his choice. “Abdul Khalim will never enter into any negotiations,” Kommersant's informant claimed. “But he will always issue a fatwa [authorization of a religious figure] to Basaev for any terrorist act.”

Maskhadov's friends still believe he was shot and not blown up. Not by his own bodyguards, as Ramzan Kadyrov alleges, but by special forces personnel. According to the Chechens, a few minutes before the assault on the bunker, the president, wanting to save the lives of his subordinates, ordered them to throw down their weapons and go out with their hands up. After some wrangling, they were forced to obey. Maskhadov categorically refused to give himself up. Our informants believed that, by falling alive into federal hands, he would have dishonored not only his kin, but all Chechens as well. In addition, the besieged man threatened the special forces with explosives, which forced them to kill him.

Relatives of the deceased are still hoping to have Maskhadov's body returned to them for burial in accordance with Muslim law and Chechen tradition. They have already turned to several international human rights organizations for help in this matter. However, the answer from the Russian side will probably be negative. In the words of Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel, Maskhadov is a figure in the criminal case of the school hostage-taking in Beslan; therefore, his body will be dealt with in accordance with current federal antiterrorist laws; that is, he will be buried in an unmarked grave on the grounds of a penal institution.

“Four relatives and three people who knew him have already visually identified Maskhadov's body,” Shepel said yesterday. “Thus, we have seven corresponding reports at our disposal.” According to Shepel, the cause of death still has to be established, and this will take several days. And given the status of the deceased, we have to carry out an additional gene examination, which will take about two weeks. All of these procedures will be performed by specialists of the 124th forensic identification laboratory in Rostov-on-Don, where they sent the body yesterday.

http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=553572