Just as the CIA backed and trained Osama Bin Laden when he was fighting
against the Russians in Afghanistan, it now appears that the Russians had
a
hand in helping and honing Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev's military
prowess.
This story was on page B1 of the World section of the Dominion Post today.
I
can't find it anywhere on the Internet. I have no idea how much of it is
real, as it includes several conditional qualifiers for key points:
"Thought to have", "is blamed for", "accused of"...and the assertion of
links to al Qaeda is made without any reference to sup****ting sources.
What is interesting about it, is his history with Russia and their
(claimed)
role in shaping his career.
***********************************************************************
"The monster Russia created"
TIMES re****ter, Richard Beeston, recalls meeting the feared Chechen rebel
believed to have masterminded the [Beslan] hostage-taking.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted terrorist, was
sitting
in a make**** bunker in Grozny. Blood oozed from a foot, hit by a Russian
sniper.
But he welcomed me as though we were old friends, recalling a scrape we
had
survived together two years before and adapting a quote by Winston
Churchill about never trusting the Russians.
Outside, scores of Russian prisoners were being coralled by Chechen
fighters, who n Basayev's orders, drove me through the city, Chechnya's
capital, in a commandeered Russian Volga limousine. Before I left, the
rebel chieftain insisted on writing a pass to give me free access to the
newly liberated city.
In 1996, after Basayev led the re-capture of Grozny in a lightning
assualt,
it was easy to be charmed by the man suspected of masterminding last
week's
bloody hostage siege.
He may look like an Islamic militant with his shaved head and bushy black
beard but he is softly spoken and shy with strangers. The real force of
his
character is revealed when he is among his men. Burly guerillas cower in
his presence and are prepared to sacrifice their lives for him.
When the latest attack unfolded last week, the Russian authorities knew
that
it had all the makings of a basayev operation. Even though two of his
field
commanders are thought to have lead the Chechen fighters into the school
in
Belsan, the planning and orders are thought to have come from Basayev, who
now heads a self-styled Islamic guerilla force.
This year he is blamed for the killing of the pro-Kremlin president of
Chechnya and then leading a raiding party into neighbouring Ingushetia,
where more than 90 people were killed as the Chechen raiders made off with
guns and ammunition.
His "black widows", the Chechen women suicide bombers under his command,
are
accused of blowing up two Russian Civilian passenger aircraft and
exploding
a bomb outside a Moscow train station.
Two years ago, Basayev claimed responsibility for taking hundreds of
hostages at a theatre in Moscow, where 129 died in a botched rescue
attempt. He concluded a similar operation in person nine years ago when
1,000 hostages were held at a hospital in Buddenovsk in the southern
Russia.
The Russians bear some responsibility for Basayev's ruthless career. After
dropping out of a land management course in Moscow and trying to launch a
career as a computer salesman, the young Chechen volunteered to help
defend
Boris Yeltsin during the communist coup attempt in 1991. The Russians
spotted his talent as a guerilla leader and helped him and a band of
Chechen fighters to join forces with rebels in Abkhazia during their
successful campaign against Georgia in 1992.
When the Chechens returned home, however, they took their combat skills
with
them and a renewed desire for independence from Russia.
As the head of security for Dzhokar Dudayev, Chechnya's first president,
Basayev quickly became am im****tant figure in a nation where military
skills are valued above all else. When the Kremlin tried to stamp out the
rebellian in December 1994 it was Basayev who lead the defence of Grozny,
which fell after a seige that reduced the city to rubble.
During this post-war period of guerilla attacks and Russian relatiation,
11
members of Basayev's family were killed in his home village, Vedeno. From
that moment he began the transformation from Chechen nationalist to
Islamic
militant, with links to al Qaeda and other foreign groups.
Basayev led the recapture of Grozny in 1996 and even had a brief political
career. When Chachnya was allowed to run its own affairs he swapped his
fatigues for a business suit and ran for president.
But he could not adapt to peace. More than anyone he was responsible for
undermining Chechenya's independence and provoking a new confrontation
with
Russia, triggered in part by his mini-invasion of neighbouring Daghestan,
where he tried to impose strict islamic law.
Once again, Russian forces attacked Grozny and Basayev lost a foot as he
led
his dwindling band of followers across a minefield in January 2--2. From
his mountain stronghold, he has masterminded scores of attacks inside
Russia. As long as he remains at large he will be planning his next
operation.
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