Russia: Chechen Leaders Explain Thinking Behind Anti-Terrorist Jihad

CEP20050816011001 Moscow Gazeta in Russian 16 Aug 05 p 2

[Nadezhda Kevorkova report: "'Wahhabists' Turn Up in Chechnya. Republic's Authorities Find Way Not To Fall Out with Saudi Arabia"]

Chechen Mufti Sultan Mirzayev [some other sources spell name as Merzoyev] and Taus Dzhabrailov, chairman of the Chechen State Council, yesterday explained to journalists at a press conference that the jihad against Wahhabites declared 4 August in the mosque in the village of Tsentoroy constitutes the "go-ahead" for conducting an operation against terrorists who will be done away with by the time of the parliamentary elections in Chechnya.
You can only stop a war with a war," Chechnya's mufti, Sultan Mirzayev declared. "Better death than endless horror.

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Taus Dzhabrailov, assesses the strength of the gunmen themselves at 800-1,000 of which 100-150 are mercenaries from elsewhere. In the opinion of the head of the State Council no more than 10-15 persons are fighting for the freedom of Chechnya, and the rest are fighting for money. Taus Dzhabrailov rejected suspicions that the gunmen will surrender and go over to working for the Chechen police. Over five years of war, according to him, around 7,000 gunmen have laid down their arms , of which 600-700 did so this year. But over three years the forces of the Chechen police have grown by only 1,500 persons and now amount to 16,000. "So the majority of gunmen return to civilian life," said Dzhabrailov confidently, although in this civilian life what awaits them is 80 percent unemployment. He even cited a precise figure of 467,655 unemployed. Among these the gunmen are recruiting new mercenaries who fight for money. So the jihad against Wahhabites was declared in order to break this vicious circle. Certain Muslim figures have calculated that by its fatwa against the Wahhabites, Chechnya has declared war on Saudi Arabia. But Taus Dzhabrailov found an elegant formulation: "We are calling them at home not Wahhabites but Wahhabists so as to make a distinction with the religion of Saudi Arabia."

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Dzhabrailov touched on a topic around which serious arguments have been going on since 1994 -- the number of killed. For Chechnya the question of casualties is a very important one taking account of the small population and the political aspect of mutual relations between Russia and the West. According to the head of the State Council, the total losses in the two wars are not more that 160,000, of which number 30,000-40,000 have been Chechens. At the same time rights champions, Western mass media, and gunmen cite a figure of 200,000-250,000 which amounts to a quarter of the population of the republic.
The mufti confirmed to Gazeta his readiness to fight: "For me the sharia (legislation in Islam -- Gazeta) does not forbid one to defend oneself and I will gladly shoot and hack [with a sword]." But Dzhabrailov, although not expressing an intention to participate in the jihad, said: "Those who fight against religious extremism, are the true heroes, they are the shahids and not those who, from the other side, kill totally innocent citizens." The jihad that has been declared does not extend to the federal army. Dzhabrailov told Gazeta: "The federals operate within the framework of the Constitution and have nothing to do with jihad." The official's entourage reacted immediately to this explanation, whispering: "They do indeed have something to do with jihad, and they are perishing like shahids.".