21 June 2012
by Gordon M. Hahn
Senior Associate, Russia and Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to Dr. Hahn’s underemployment, IIPER will be cutting back its coverage in coming issues for the foreseeable future.
RUSSIA
- ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE SHURA OF THE CAUCASUS EMIRATE’S (CE) NOKCHICHO (CHECHEN) VILAIYAT
- VIDEO STATEMENT OF DV SHURA SUGGESTS NEW DV AMIR IS ‘ABU MUKHAMMAD (USMAN)’ RUSTAM ASILDAROV
- CE’S GALGAICHE VILAIYAT IN INGUSHETIYA HOLDS SHURA
- JUNE 13 SPECIAL OPERATION IN KARACHAEVO-CHERKESSIYA KILLS 3 MUJAHEDIN
- LIKELY HIZB-UT- TAHRIR ISLAMI CELL UNCOVERED IN BASHKIRIYA
- CE SUICIDE ISTISHKHAD PROPAGANDA: SHAKHIDKA AMINA IBRAGIMOVA’S ISTISHKHAD VIDEO AND ZALINA’S LETTER
- CE MAIN WEBSITE CITES GREEK FASCISTS TO SUPPORT VIEW THAT HOLOCAUST WAS A MYTH
AZERBAIJAN
- CE DAGESTAN VILAIYAT-GLOBAL JIHAD PLOT TO ATTACK EUROVISION-2012 AND OTHER TARGETS IN AZERBAIJAN FOILED
CENTRAL ASIA
- FINAL WORD IN ‘JUND AL-KHALIFAT’ DEBATE REVEALS JK TIES TO PAKISTAN TALIBAN’S ‘TERIK-E-NAFAZ-E-SHARIAT-E-MOHAMMED’
* IIPER is written and edited by Dr. Gordon M. Hahn unless otherwise noted. Research assistance is provided by Sara Amstutz, Mark Archibald, Michelle Enriquez, Seth Gray, John Andrew Jones, Casey Mahoney, Anna Nevo, Daniel Painter, and Elizabeth Wolcott. IIPER accepts outside submissions.
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RUSSIA
ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE SHURA OF THE CAUCASUS EMIRATE’S (CE) NOKCHICHO (CHECHEN) VILAIYAT
As I covered in IIPER 58, CE amir Dokku ‘Abu Usman’ Umarov convened a shura of the CE’s Chechnya-based sub-network, the Nokchicho (Chechnya) Vilaiyat (NV) on April 29th, according to a May 17th post on the CE’s main website Kavkaz tsentr. The brief announcement notes that Umarov convened a shura of the NV’s Western Theater or Front (napravlenie) and that his naib for the NV Khamzat and the NV’s Western Theater was also in attendance.[1] Thus, the Khamzat in attendance was ‘Khamzat’ Berg-Khazh Musaev and was not ‘Khamzat’ Aslan Butyukaev, who is the CE’s military amir and possibly Umarov’s naib for the CE.
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VIDEO STATEMENT OF DV SHURA SUGGESTS NEW DV AMIR IS ‘ABU MUKHAMMAD (USMAN)’ RUSTAM ASILDAROV
A shura of the Caucasus Emirate’s (CE) Dagestani network, the Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV), was convened on 16 April 2012 “under the leadership of amir Abu Mukhammad” (Usman) (born Rustam Asildarov.[2] This suggests that Abu Mukhammad/Asildarov has officially assumed the position of amir after having been identified as the “acting amir” a few weeks earlier, when he restated his loyalty bayat to CE amir Dokku ‘Abu Usman’ Umarov (see IIPER 56). The DV’s previous amir, ‘Salikh’ Ibragimkhalil Daudov, was killed on February 14th. ‘Abu Mukhammad’ Asildarov was Daudov’s first naib (deputy) and amir of the DV’s powerful Central Sector from which several recent DV amirs have hailed. A videotape of the shura was posted on YouTube and various CE sites on May 19th. It shows Asildarov standing in a circle with 20 amirs, but there is no definitive statement that he is the DV’s amir.[3]
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CE’S GALGAICHE VILAIYAT IN INGUSHETIYA HOLDS SHURA
The Caucasus Emirate’s network in Ingushetia, the CE’s so-called Galgaiche Vilaiyat (GV), held a shura this spring. For the first time, the shura was announced and publicized, including a video statement posted on the GV command’s website Hunafa.com on May 14th. The 4 minute and 31 second video statement shows a spectacled amir in a Caucasus furashka speaking in Ingush and Arabic intermittently. He is accompanied by at least 17 other mujahedin. A few are masked.[4]
Thus, this spring as opposed to last spring, three of the CE’s vilaiyats have managed to hold shuras, though no CE-wide shura has been held as far as we know. The CE’s Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV), GV, and the Nokchicho Vilaiyat’s (NV) Western Front (VN) have also held shuras. CE amir Dokku ‘Abu Usman’ Umarov convened the NV VN shura, as noted above. The OVKBK, which held one last spring, is the only one of the CE’s known acting vilaiyats that has still not reported convening a shura this spring.
Ten days prior to the posting of the shura video statement, the GV’s command issued a statement, probably drafted around the time of the shura, in which the GV amirs claimed responsibility for an attack on April 28th in Malgobek, Ingushetiya that killed three local policemen: Mikail Kureishevich Tsokiev, Adam Kartoev, and Imran Sainaroev. The statement notes that the attack occurred after a special operational group of the GV’s “Malgobek sector” had carried out reconnaissance on the route the armoured car takes, the composition of its crew, and “other details.” It also claims that Tsokiev participated in almost all of the kidnappings in Malgobek since 2007, had ordered the torture of many from Malgobek, and “participated twice in the shooting of Muslims.” Tsakoev did all this in order to “receive the approval of Iblis (infidel devil)” and therefore “received the deserved punishment for his actions committed against Allah and His religion.” The statement also warned that the mujahedin were “actively looking out for informers” and those who committed any crimes committed by apostates on the GV’s “territory.” It claimed to know the murderers of Said-Magomed Galaev and Abdu-l-Malik Galaev in Sagopshi in September 2007 and noted: “Allah willing those apostates will be destroyed.” The statement was signed by the GV command’s Informational-Analytical Department.[5]
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JUNE 13 SPECIAL OPERATION IN KARACHAEVO-CHERKESSIYA KILLS 3 MUJAHEDIN
In another rare occurrence for Russia’s North Caucasus Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessiya (KChR), a June 13th special counter-terrorist operation killed three alleged mujahedin in Cherkessk.[6] The KChR is part of the field of operations for the Caucasus Emirate’s (CE) United Vilaiyat of Kabardiya, Balkariya, and Karachai (OVKBK). The OVKBK network is mostly based in the neighboring Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya. According to the OVKBK’s website Islamdin.com, seemingly concurring with Russian sources, the three mujahedin were 26-year old Dinislam Karakotov, 26-year old Umar Baichorov, and 25-year old Denislam Semenov. The post offered a prayer for the mujahedin and noted that Russian law enforcement organs rarely report their own losses. Islamdin.com was awaiting a report from the OVKBK command.[7] This is the second jihadi attack or violent incident in the KChR in several months and may be part of OVKBK plans to move west and set up a network that could strike the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, as IIPER has noted numerous times.
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LIKELY HIZB-UT- TAHRIR ISLAMI CELL UNCOVERED IN BASHKIRIYA
On May 25th Russian state television reported the uncovering of an unspecified “cell of an international extremist organization.” However, the Pervyi Kanal report notes that it was the cell of an organization banned in Russia nine years ago by the country’s Supreme Court.[8] That means the cell was likely part of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Islami (Islamic Liberation Party or HTI). Five members of the HTI cell were detained in Tuimazin District for preparing and distributing leaflets, books and brochures of “radical content,” said the news report. Also, “audio and video disks propagandizing extremist views” were found. The news report video showed a pile of Islamic books.[9]
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CE SUICIDE ISTISHKHAD PROPAGANDA: SHAKHIDKA AMINA IBRAGIMOVA’S ISTISHKHAD VIDEO AND ZALINA’S LETTER
The CE and its subnetworks continue to publish videos, audios, and texts of istishkhad final testaments, in particular those issued by female or so-called shakhidkas. Two were recently made available: one a video and another in text. The video was produced by Amina Ibragimova, who seems to speak the word ‘Allah’ every fifth or sixth word. Ibragimova states how much she loves Allah, condemns the “rule of the Jews.” and asks her family and especially her mother to forgive her and not to cry.[10] Hunafa.com, the website of the CE’s Ingushetiya network, the Galgaiche Vilaiyat (GV), posted a letter from a would-be shakhidka simply named Zalina, who failed in her bid to commit suicide istishkhad because police interdicted her before she could detonate her bomb and she was shot to death. It was also posted on VDagestan.com, the website of the CE’s Dagestani network, the Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV). Here is an excerpt that exhibits well the mentality that jihadi handlers strenghthen within prospective Muslim suicide bombers:
I bow to Allah, this is not our home, and he does not need us. We are here in this transitory world temporarily. Allah willing, soon, even very soon we will leave it and forever. We will find everything is better near Allah, and there is no comparison and there are no doubts (Allah forbid).
And martyrdom is the very highest degree, and only prophets come before it because of their prophetic mission. The very best of all of Allah’s creations, the Prophet Mohammed, Allah bless and welcome him, asked for martyrdom. We imitate him in everything, even in death. So let us stand up and die for that which our Prophet, Allah bless and welcome him, died. And what are we doing in this material world after him?! Martyrdom is the very best path to paradise. The easiest death is the death of martyrdom – the bite of mosquito.”[11]
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CE MAIN WEBSITE CITES GREEK FASCISTS TO SUPPORT VIEW THAT HOLOCAUST WAS A MYTH
The CE’s main website backed up its view that the Holocaust is a myth by referencing a claim by the Greek fascist party ‘Golden Dawn’ in a May 17th post. See “MIF O KHOLOKOSTE: Glava parlamentskoi partii Gretss podtverdil, chto ‘yevreskoi kholokosta’ ne bylo,” Kavkaz tsentr, 17 May 2012, 10:11, http://www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2012/05/17/90613.shtml.
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AZERBAIJAN
CE DAGESTAN VILAIYAT-GLOBAL JIHADI PLOT TO ATTACK EUROVISION-2012 AND OTHER TARGETS IN AZERBAIJAN FOILED
I have been warning for several years about the threat to Azerbaijan posed by the Caucasus Emirate and its Dagestani network, the so-called Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV), given the DV’s growing capacity and ambitions.[12] On May 30th Azerbaijani authorities announced a series of special counterterrorist operations rooting out an alleged CE/DV-tied group of global jihadists – “a transnational armed criminal group” – planning a series of attacks in Azerbaijan’s capitol of Baku during the entertainment awards competition Eurovision-2012 as well as later attacks to be carried out across the country.[13] These operations were apparently a result of information gathered from a series of previous arrests of CE-tied mujahedin in Gyanja, Azerbaijan in April, who were part of a plot also connected to this group to assassinate Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev and carry out other attacks (see IIPER No. 57).[14]
The alleged Eurovision plot was apparently to be one of this series of attacks to be carried out both before and during the Eurovision contest, reminiscent of the 2008 Mumbai attacks involving a coordinated series of operations. The Eurovision plot envisioned attacks bombing and ambushing gathering places in the Baku Hilton and JW Marriott Absheron hotels, the Crystal Hall (where Eurovision was held), and State Flag Square, all located in downtown Baku. There has been no mention of plans to take hostages as in Mumbai. There were also plans to carry out operations in a number of regions of Azerbaijan, including bombing places of pilgrimage and mosques, killing law enforcement personnel, and ambushing administrative buildings with the goal of seizing weapons and ammunition. According to law enforcement officials operations were carried out in the Baku, Gyanja, Zagatal, Shekin, Gusar, Absheron, Khachmaz, and Shabron regions of the country.[15]
According to Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry (NSM), the CE’s plans for extending jihad to Azerbaijan were hatched in February 2011 at the shura of the CE’s Dagestan network, the notorious Dagestan Vilaiyat (DV) which now spearheads the CE’s jihad in Russia. According to the NSM’s information the shura of DV amirs was convened by ‘Salikh’ Ibragimkhalil Daudov. However, Daudov was not appointed amir until May 2011; his predecessor was killed in ‘Khasan’ Israpil Velidzhanov having been killed in April. Daudov was killed on February 14th of this year. At the time the noted shura was convened, therefore, Velidzhanov was the DV’s amir, and Daudov was Daudov’s second naib of three as well as the amir of the DV’s Southern Sector, which borders Azerbaijan. Thus, the shura may have been a shura of the DV’s Southern Sector not one of the DV as a whole. The shura was convened, according to the NSM, not far from the village of Kadar, which is located in southern Dagestan, with the participation of three Azerbaijanis: Vugar Padarov, Elmir Nuraliev, and Samir Sanyiev. Daudov appointed Padarov as amir of the group with the nom de guerre of ‘Bursa’ and provided “a large quantity of funding” for the prospective Azerbaijani operations.[16] The Azerbaijani Padarov Jamaat (APJ) or simply the Azerbaijani Jamaat was seemingly born.
However, IIPER readers have known about the DV threat to Azerbaijan and the creation of an Azerbaijan Jamaat within the CE’s DV since July 2010, much earlier than February 2011.[17] I have warned about the threat to Azerbaijan posed by the CE and its DV for years, especially given the DV’s growing capacity and ambitions. The most recent information I have had on the amir of the DV’s Azerbaijani Jamaat goes back to December 2010 when he was identified by the nom d’guerre ‘Abdullah’.[18] The DV’s surge domestically and internationally has long been in evidence at least since attacks like the March 2010 double suicide bombing of the Moscow subway (carried out by Daudov’s wife as well as the wife of another famous DV amir, ‘Seifullah Gubdenskii’ Magomedali Vagabov) and the DV cell uncovered in April 2011 operating in the Czeck Republic (see IIPER, Nos. 13-16, 20, and 40). Former DV amir Daudov even declared that the U.S. would be destroyed (see IIPER, No. 47).
Another report, citing Azeri NSM sources, reports that Nuraliev, with the jihadi name ‘Maga,’ met Padarov in 2010, arrived in Dagestan in 2010, and participated in DV operations in Dagestan under both Velidzhanov and Daudov. Padarov formed the group in summer 2011, and at some unidentified time members of the group underwent “special preparation” in a madrasah in Syria. Then some of those members went to Waziristan, Pakistan and trained with Al Qa`ida-connected ‘Islamic Jihad.’ If ‘Islamic Jihad’ means the Islmaic Jihadi Union (IJU), then this would be consistent with the growing ties between the CE and IJU, as documented in IIPER on several occasions over the last couple of years. After training the Azerbaijan Jamaat’s members in Waziristan went on to participate in operations in Afghanistan’s provinces of Paktiya, Host, Kandahar, and Helmand. Other members of the jamaat underwent a two-month training course in Iran.[19] The plot’s possible connections to the IJU, Pakistan, and Iran highlight the nature of the global jihadi revolutionary movement and the CE’s growing role within it.
Several reports note that Padarov, Nuraliev, and Sanyiev crossed back into Azerbaijan in July 2011, according to the NSM. According to one report, they were met in Gusar District in northern Azerbaijan by one Amir Muradov and driven to Sumgait. Sanyiev went from there to Baku, while the other three headed to Zagatala. Padarov at the head of an armed group was supposed to lead the assassination of President Aliev during his visit to the country’s northwest, organize armed attacks on administrative buildings, and a number of explosions. Nuraliev and Padarov were supposed to gather intelligence, determine the location of a number of state organization’s offices, their officials’ schedules, the number of personnel, and the best positioning for snipers. After carrying out attacks on Baku’s hotels, the Crystal Palace, and Flag Square, the group was to withdraw to the forested mountains of northern Azerbaijan, bordering Dagestan, and conduct further operations in conjunction with additional forces coming from Dagestan.[20] Azeri security discovered weapons caches and other supplies hidden away in the forested mountain regions in northern Azerbaijan along the border with Dagestan.[21]
Sanyiev was appointed by Padarov as the amir of a group of mujahedin and took the jihadi name of Abu Ubeid.[22] He purchased a large quantity of explosive materials and a Nissan Pathfinder, and other members of the group, including one Timur Guseinov, conducted surveillance of personnel to be attacked. Several car bombs were to be prepared with the Nissan and the automobiles of other members of Sanyiev’s group. These vehicle-born IEDs were to be deployed on Baku’s central square and in the abovementioned hotels’ parking garages. Guseinov was to purchase a ticket for the Eurovision contest’s final evening and detonate an IED or “shock bomb” there. The jihadists’ hope was to induce a mass panic and rampage crushing the events’ attendees. The car bombs deployed in front of the hotels and another close to Flag Square were to be detonated simultaneously.[23]
Azerbaijani security forces’ special operations detained 40 alleged members of the group. In some cases law enforcement met with resistance, and one of the leaders of the group, Vugar Padarov, was killed as a result. Guseinov resisted arrest, fired on security forces and police, and was killed on May 16th. Sanyiev initially managed to escape but was captured as he was preparing to leave the country in Gazakh (Qazakh) District near the borders with Georgia and Armenia.[24] A similar sequence of events occurred with a member of the group identified in another press report as Samir Piriev. Two NSM personnel were wounded during the arrest operations, according to the same report.[25]
The operation uncovered 13 automatic rifles, one machine gun, 12 pistols, 3 carbines, 3,424 bullets of various caliber, 23 hand grenades, 26 F-1 grenades, 3 RG-42 grenades, various readied explosive devices, 2,352 grams of plastic explosives, two containers containing 20 kilograms of explosives, 675 grams of TNT caps, 19 detonators, 19 electrical detonators, other ammunition and weapons, 48 walkie-talkies, and “literature of an extremist character.” One IED was prepared which used a toy car remote control as a detonator and in which 438.2 grams of plastic explosives and metal strands were placed. This particular IED would have killed everyone within a 100-meter radius, according to Azeri law enforcement. According to officials, the plots were intended to sow fear and chaos and interethnic and inter-confessional conflicts.[26]
Iranian media reported on a statement issued by a previously unknown “Organization of Arab Mujahedin” (OAM), which warned that “the blood of sexual minorities will be spilled on the streets of the Azerbaijani capitol if the gay-parade takes place” in Baku. The Iranian report claimed that the supposed OAM is closely tied to al-Qaeda and operates in Central Asia and the Caucasus.[27] IIPER knows of no such group operating in the North Caucasus. Iran may have been trying to aggravate the situation in Azerbaijan by spreading disinformation, since the two countries’ relations have grown increasingly tense in recent years.
On the other hand, the disinformation could have been intended to deflect attention away from iran’s possible involvement as reported by NSM sources, cited above. It cannot be excluded that the CE DV’s predominantly Sunni mujahedin could include or utilize Shiites from Dagestan in cahoots with Iran. Azerbaijan is domnated by Shiite Muslims. The largest ethnic group straddling the Azerbaijani-Dagestani border is the Lezgins, who are Sunni of the Shafi’i rite, but small numbers of Lezgins living near or inside Azerbaijan are Shiite. Such Iranian-CE cooperation and experience in Azerbaijan, beyond its suigeneris benefits from Iran’s point of views, could have the added value of creating a platform upon which to turn on Russia by supporting the CE should Moscow abandon Teheran in the ongoing ‘5 + 1’ talks regarding Iranian nuclear weapons development.
On thing is certainly clear. If the Azerbaijanis’ intelligence on this attack is accurate, in particular with regards to the DV’s chief organizing role, that we have more confirmation of the growing international role of the CE and its DV, if such were needed after the DV cell was uncovered in the Czeck Republic last year.
CE websites seemed to confirm CE ties to the plot. The CE-tied website ‘Umma News’ referred to Padarov as “our brother” when he was killed in the April counter-terrorist operation in Gyanja. Padarov was also said by Umma news to have “received that which he had wished for (Allah, please accept him and lead him to Jannat)” and decribed as follows: “Vugar Padarov became the first person on Azerbaijan’s territory, who has committed istishkhad (martyrdom usually associated with suicide bombings) in his homeland. Azerbaijani mujahedin have shown themselves to be good and gallant soldiers for us in the Caucasus. But up until now there no news had come about similar actions of Azerbaijan’s territory. This (first such news) testifies to the attainment of a certain level of understanding and faith by the jamaat of monotheists.” Umma News expressed optimism given that the arrests of the Azerbaijan Jamaat’s members occurred over a broad swathe of Azerbaijani territory, which testified to the expanding geography of the global jihadi revolutionary alliance’s support in that country. It also issued an overt threat: “No Mossad, MI-6, CIA, NSM or any other tree-lettered organization can defend from the punishment that is being laid down for them. Their blood is the water which will wash a part of the sins of the monotheists, which they earn for each second of a peaceful life under the whip of the non-believer. Blood of this European scum absolutely will be spilled. The past operation, which became famous to the entire world, is an advertisement about the potential of the gallant Muslims of Azerbaijan. There will not be explosive materials and tubes, there will be chemical weapons and knives.”[28]
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CENTRAL ASIA
FINAL WORD IN ‘JUND AL-KHALIFAT’ DEBATE REVEALS JK TIES TO PAKISTAN TALIBAN’S ‘TERIK-E-NAFAZ-E-SHARIAT-E-MOHAMMED’
The CE websites ‘Umma news’ and ‘Kavkaz tsentr’ posted what they referred to as the “final answer” to Abu Jafar’s criticism of the Kazakhstani ‘Jund al-Khalifat’ (JK) mujahedin for “indulging in excesses” (izlishestvuyut).[29] IIPER No. 57 previously reported on this debate between Abu Jafar and a vaguely identified mujahedin ‘Jihad in Kazakhstan’ representing the JK. [30] As IIPER readers know, last year marked the arrival of jihad in Kazakhstan with suicide bombings and other attacks. Claims of responsibility came from this previously declared but unknown Kazakh jamaat called ‘Jund al-Khalifat’ or variously Jundallah al-Khalifat. The JK is apparently based in Waziristan, Pakistan and allied with the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), Al Qa`ida (AQ), and, as it appears now ‘Terik-e-Nazaf-e-Shariat-S-Mohammed (TNSM) (see IIPER, Nos. 50 and 49).
One of the articles critical of the JK, jihadists in general, and in Kazkahstan in particular, was written by one Abu Jafar and appeared on the Internet titled “To the Soldiers of the Virtual Caliphate or an Ojection of the Objections.” Abu Jafar accuses “jihadists” of “not troubling themselves with seeking (Islamic) knowledge and refusing to listed to (Islamic) scholars” and inclined towards “emotional demagogy” and “one-sidedness.” He implies that they are kharijites but leaves a final decision on that to scholars while noting that jihadists are intolerant and “meet any criticism with hostility.” In an aside while making legal arguments based on Shariah law, Abu Jafar calls JK “a gang of thieves.”[31]
Most of the critique in this “third and last” answer’s of Abu Jafar’s criticism repeats many of the points contained in the previously reported answers from the JK mujahedin. One new argument is that Abu Jafar poses a strawman when he inaccurately describes the JK mujahedin, based in Khorasan in Pakistan’s Waziristan Province in the FATA territories, for being young and illiterate on issues of religion. It retorts that there are fighters of 30-40 years of age in the Khorasan mountains, citing the example of “Sheikh-mujahed” Maulan Fazlullah (amir of the Pakistan Taliban-tied group ‘Terik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed’ or TNSM), and most of the time the mujahedin are training and “seeking knowledge” of Islam.[32] The article’s reference to Flazullah, sometimes called the ‘Radio Mullah’ or ‘chief of Swat Valley’, suggests that the JK might be working with him and TNSM.
In addition, there is another positive reference in this answer to Abu Jafar, which implies praise of the late Sheikh Said Abu Saad Buryatskii (born Aleksandr Tikhomirov) for being a true Islamic scholar and searcher of Islamic knowledge.[33] This demonstrates once more the key theo-ideological role played by Buryatskii in the emergence of jihadism in Kazkahstan. As I have noted previously, Buryatskii toured Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan, during thr early 2000s before joining the CE in May 2008. His lectures on Islam in Kazakhstan remain on the CE GV’s website Hunafa.com on its ‘Said Abu Saad’ page at http://hunafa.com/?page_id=398. As IIPER readers know that the first pronouncements from the Kazakhstani mujahedin were made on the Hunafa.com website of the Caucasus Emirate’s (CE) Ingushetiya-based network, the Galgaiche Vilaiyat (GV) (see IIPER, Nos. 30 and 37).
This is what we mean by the global jihadi revolutionary movement; in this case there are connections between the Pakistan, Buryatiya, Kazakhstan, and the North Caucasus, in particular Ingushetiya. Thus, the answer to Abu Jafar in rejecting his view that jihad requires a Shariah court ruling argues that the word of amirs is sufficient and mentions three authoritative amirs: the Taliban’s “Mullah Omar (Khorosan and Central Asia) Dokku Abu Usman (Caucasus Emirate), Abu Basyr (Yemen), etc.”[34] The last mentioned was born Nasser al Wuhayshi is the amir of Al Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) based in Yemen and served as Osama bin Laden’s aide-de-camp.
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Footnotes
[1] “Amir IK Dokku Abu Usman provel Shuru s amirami vilaiyata Nokhchiicho’,” Kavkaz tsentr, 17 May 2012, 21:09 and 23:05, http://www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2012/05/17/90620.shtml.
[2] “Shura mudzhakhidov VD pod rukovodstvok amira Abu Mukhammada, 16 aprelya 2012 goda,” You Tube, posted 19 May 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xn-WxCUcYVA, last accessed 21 June 2012.
[3] “Shura mudzhakhidov VD pod rukovodstvok amira Abu Mukhammada, 16 aprelya 2012 goda,” You Tube, posted 19 May 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xn-WxCUcYVA, last accessed 21 June 2012.
[4] “Obrashenie mudzhakhedov,” Hunafa.com, 14 May 2012, http://hunafa.com/?p=7129.
[5] “Zayavlenie Komandovaniya mudzhakhidov Vilaiyata Galgaiche,” Hunafa.com, 4 May 2012, http://hunafa.com/?p=7079.
[6] “Boestolknovenie v Karachaevskom sektore. Vilaiyat KBK IK,” Islamdin.com, 13 June 2012, http://www.islamdin.com/kavkaz/1358-2012-06-13-15-23-07.html.
[7] “Boestolknovenie v Karachaevskom sektore. Vilaiyat KBK IK,” Islamdin.com, 13 June 2012, http://www.islamdin.com/kavkaz/1358-2012-06-13-15-23-07.html.
[8] “Deyatel’nost yacheiki ekstremistskoi organizatsii peresechena v Bashkirii,” Pervyi Kanal, 25 May 2012, 9:07, http://www.1tv.ru/news/crime/208023.
[9] “Deyatel’nost yacheiki ekstremistskoi organizatsii peresechena v Bashkirii”.
[10] “Obrashenie Aminy Ibragimovoi k svoei sem’e,” YouTube, posted 27 May 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIKwgeIQpas&feature=player_embedded, accessed 29 May 2012 posted on first page of Kavkaz tsentr, 29 May 2012.
[11] “Obrashenie sestry pered istishkhadom,” Hunafa.com, 30 March 2012, http://hunafa.com/?p=6874 and “Obrashenie sestry pered istishkhadom,” VDagestan.com, 30 March 2012, 1:44, http://vdagestan.com/2012/03/obrashhenie-sestry-pered-istishxadom/.
[12] See Gordon M. Hahn, U.S.-Russian Relations and the War Against Jihadism, Hart-Matlock Russia Working Group Paper, The Century Foundation, May 2009, http://www.tcf.org/publications/internationalaffairs/hahn.pdf. See also Gordon M. Hahn, “Dagestan Vilaiyat Shura: Amir Khasan Reaffirms Bayat to Umarov, Threatens More Suicide Attacks in Russia, and Announces Leadership and Organizational Changes,” IIPER, No. 31, 17 December 2010.
[13] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki,” RBC, 30 May 2012, 15:34:37, http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20120530153437.shtml; “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’,” Interfax, 30 May 2012, 10:28 http://www.interfax.by/news/world/111788; “Pokushenie na prezidenta i terakty na ‘Evrovidenie’,” Zerkalo.az, 31 May 2012, http://www.zerkalo.az/2012-05-31/short-news/29691-terakt-evrovidenie; and Elman Mamedov, “Eurovision ‘terror plot’ thwarted: Azerbaijan,” AFP, 30 May 2012, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g0BB2S9CKtuayJhgOEMhdkzTRTKw?docId=CNG.60490b622cc956adb6a886ff4c892ab7.801.
[14] For the names of the some 20 of the detainees taken into custody in the April special operations, see “MNB o podrbnostyakh operatsii protiv religioznykh ekstremistov,” Contact.az, 18 April 2012, 18:28:54, http://www.contact.az/docs/2012/Politics/04184455ru.htm.
[15] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki” and “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[16] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki” and “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[17] See Gordon M. Hahn, “Cauacasus Emirate Annual Shura Still Not Convened,” IIPER, No. 18, 6 July 2010 citing “Znamenie Allakha Vo Vremya Boya v Vilaiyate Dagestan, Golos Amira Khattaba (Shakhid Inshallakh) Prizval Kafirov k Sdache,” Jamaat Shariat, 7 June 2010, 17:43, http://jamaatshariat.com/ru/new/15–/861-2010-06-07-16-44-40.html.
[18] See IIPER, No. 31, 17 December 2010 citing “Shura amirov Dagestana. Bayat Amira Dagestana Khasana, 19 October 2010,” JamaatShariat.com, 1 December 2010, http://www.jamaatshariat.com/ru and Kavkaz tsentr, 1 December 2010, http://www.kavkazcenter.com, last accessed 3 December 2010.
[19] “MNB o podrbnostyakh operatsii protiv religioznykh ekstremistov,” Contact.az, 18 April 2012, 18:28:54, http://www.contact.az/docs/2012/Politics/04184455ru.htm.
[20] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki” and “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[21] “MNB o podrbnostyakh operatsii protiv religioznykh ekstremistov”.
[22] “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[23] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki” and “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[24] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki” and “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[25] “Pokushenie na prezidenta i terakty na ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[26] “V Azerbaijane pri likvidatsii terroristov iz”yato 20 kg vzryvchatki” and “Spetssluzhba Azerbaidzhana predotvratila terakt nakanune nachala konkursa ‘Evrovidenie’”.
[27] “Terroristy planirovali seriyu teraktov v khode konkursa ‘Evrovidenie-2012’ v Baku – MNB,” Regnum, 30 May 2012, http://www.regnum.ru/news/fd-abroad/azeri/1536598.html.
[28] “Azerbaijan: Ne otstupat’ i ne sdavatsya,” Umma News, 8 April 2012, 17:30, http://ummanews.com/news/last-news/6391-2012-04-07-20-31-35.html.
[29] “Tretii i zaklyuchitelnyi otvet na kritiku v adres ‘Dzhund al’-Khalifat’,” Umma News, 31 May 2012, 03:37, http://ummanews.com/opinions/7149———l–r.html.
[30] “Tretii i zaklyuchitelnyi otvet na kritiku v adres ‘Dzhund al’-Khalifat’,” Umma News, 31 May 2012, 03:37, http://ummanews.com/opinions/7149———l–r.html.
[31] Abu-Jafar, “Voinam ‘virtual’nogo’ khalifat ili ‘oproverzhenie oproverzheniy’,” Islam.ucoz.net, 20 April 2012, 18:32, http://islam.ucoz.net/news/voinam_virtualnogo_khalifata_ili_oproverzhenie_oproverzhenij/2012-04-20-110.
[32] “Tretii i zaklyuchitelnyi otvet na kritiku v adres ‘Dzhund al’-Khalifat’,” Umma News, 31 May 2012, 03:37, http://ummanews.com/opinions/7149———l–r.html.
[33] “Tretii i zaklyuchitelnyi otvet na kritiku v adres ‘Dzhund al’-Khalifat’,” Umma News, 31 May 2012, 03:37, http://ummanews.com/opinions/7149———l–r.html.
[34] “Tretii i zaklyuchitelnyi otvet na kritiku v adres ‘Dzhund al’-Khalifat’,” Umma News, 31 May 2012, 03:37, http://ummanews.com/opinions/7149———l–r.html.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
RECENT PUBLICATIONS BY GORDON M. HAHN
Gordon M. Hahn, “Putin and Medvedev Liberalize Government,” forthcoming in Russia – Other Points of View, May 2012, posted in Johnson’s Russia List, #96, 25 May 2012.
Gordon M. Hahn, “Medvedev’s Conservatism,” Russia – Other Points of View, 13 May 2012, www.russiaotherpointsofview.com/2012/05/medvedevs-conservatism.html#more.
Gordon M. Hahn, “Perestroika 2.0 and the Moscow Spring,” Fair Observer, 11 May 2012, www.fairobserver.com/article/perestroika-20-and-moscow-spring.
Gordon M. Hahn, “Russia, the West, and the Sunni-Shia Trap,” Russia – Other Points of View, 3 May 2012, www.russiaotherpointsofview.com/2012/05/russia-the-west-and-the-sunni-shiite-trap.html#more.
For Gordon M. Hahn’s March 3rd discussion on cyber security with Robert Sachs on ‘Voice of Russia’ Radio, please see “Cyber Security for peace on Earth” at Voice of Russia using this link: http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_05_03/73631757/.
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ABOUT IIPER
Islam, Islamism and Politics in Eurasia Report (IIPER) is a project of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It focuses on all politically-relevant issues involving or bearing on Islam, Islamism, and Jihadism in Russia and Eurasia writ large. All issues of IIPER will soon be permanently archived at http://csis.org/program/russia-and-eurasia-program. All back issues temporarily remain archived at: http://www.miis.edu/academics/faculty/ghahn/report.
IIPER is compiled, edited and, unless indicated otherwise, written by Dr. Gordon M. Hahn. Dr. Hahn is a Senior Associate (Non-Resident) in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C., Senior Researcher and Adjunct Professor at the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP), Monterey, California. He is also a Senior Researcher at the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group and an Analyst and Consultant for Russia Other Points of View – Russia Media Watch, http://www.russiaotherpointsofview.com. He teaches courses on both politics and terrorism in Russia and Eurasia at MonTREP. Dr. Hahn is the author of two well-received books, Russia’s Islamic Threat (Yale University Press, 2007) and Russia’s Revolution From Above (Transaction, 2002) as well as numerous articles on Russian, Eurasian and international politics.
IIPER welcomes submissions on any aspect of Islamic, Islamist, or Jihadist politics in Eurasia as well as financial contributions to support the project. For related inquiries or to request to be included on IIPER’s mailing list, please contact:
Dr. Gordon M. Hahn
Tel: (831) 647-3535 Fax: (831) 647-6522
Email: ghahn@miis.edu or gordon-hahn@sbcglobal.net