Albert

Kremlin's Chechen strongman plays the Islamic card

Ramzan Kadyrov is Russian President Vladimir Putin's strongman in charge of a brutal struggle to crush independence fighters and Muslim radicals in the mountainous province. But now Kadyrov, 29, is running a vigorous Islamic campaign of his own in an attempt to show his people that he too can be independent from his masters in Moscow. After outlawing gambling in Chechnya last year, he has this year called for polygamy, an end to non-Chechen radio music, and more newspaper articles on religion. He plans to build a large mosque in the obliterated center of the Chechen capital Grozny and his police recently announced a crackdown ondrugs and the confiscation of hundreds of thousands of illegal bottles of alcohol.

The squat boxing enthusiast, whose militia is widely accused of torture and kidnapping, even describes the ongoing conflict against remnants of Chechnya's independence movement and Muslim militants as "holy war". The logic, Kadyrov explains, is that he supports the local version of Sunnite Islam, not the strict creed practised in parts of the Arab world and taken up by some of the most extreme rebels. Above all, though, the Islamic campaign appears aimed at bolstering Kadyrov's own credentials as a national leader, rather than a Kremlin puppet. Kadyrov's initiatives are in stark contrast to the suspicion of Islam shown by Russian officials elsewhere in the turbulent North Caucasus region. But then Kadyrov is no typical Russian regional boss.

Born into Chechnya's biggest clan, the Benoi, Kadyrov was eased into his leadership role following the assassination of his father Akhmed Kadyrov in 2004 while serving as Putin's hand-picked Chechen president. Thanks to Putin's personal backing he has become indisputably Chechnya's most powerful man, despite officially holding only the second highest post of prime minister. Appealing to Chechens' penchant for extravagant leaders, Kadyrov claims to keep a lion, tiger, wolf and bear at his home in the village of Tsenteroi. Kadyrov says 2006 is the year of Chechnya's reconstruction and promises to build the biggest mosque in Southern Russia, a sports complex, a concert hall and library, schools, five new hospitals, roads and new housing.

So far, the most visible achievement is just one hastily refurbished central street in Grozny, a city where nearly everyone lives without running water or rubbish collection, and surrounded by apocalyptic ruins. But there does seem to be growth in popularity for the man everyone refers to as Ramzan - not least in part because his security forces and construction projects are almost the only sources of work. "Ramzan is fine. He's building the city and he looks after people. You see him on television and he seems a normal guy", said a young member of the security forces, who wished to remain anonymous.

Behind the bright exterior of Kadyrov's Chechnya, however, allegedly lies a dark world of torture, extortion and arrogant, gun-wielding thugs. One woman in Gudermes, who like most people in Chechnya did not want to be identified, described how three of her four sons had been snatched by hit squads hunting active and former rebel fighters. One was shot escaping, one disappeared. The third was seized last November and is now on trial in Gudermes. According to the man's court testimony, and his mother, he was tortured for three days at Kadyrov's base in Tsenteroi until he signed a confession, which he subsequently retracted ahead of his trial. "They burned him, they threw stones, they tried to force him to come over to their side. Then they got him to sign when he was barely conscious", the mother said. "After he got a lawyer, he retracted his testimony". Ramzan Kadyrov seems to brim with confidence, but the shadow of his sworn enemies among the guerrillas and the unsolved assassination of his father two years ago is ever present.

Date: March 13, 2006
Source: Monday Morning, Lebanon

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