Umarov continues to hope that the advent to power in Russia of a new, post-Putin leadership could expedite an end to the six-year-old war in the republic.
RFE/RL correspondent Babitskii traveled to Chechnya last month, where he interviewed Umarov. Umarov, who is 40 and who returned from Moscow to join the resistance at the beginning of the first Chechen war 10 years ago, said that "after everything Russia has done in Chechnya over the past six years," he currently sees no alternative to continuing armed resistance. At the same time, he said he has the impression that the era of Russian President Vladimir Putin is coming to a close, and that "sensible people" will come to power in Moscow.
He categorically rejected the suggestion that the Chechen population favors the republic remaining part of the Russian Federation, saying that less than 1 percent of Chechens support that option.
Like former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed by Russian forces on 8 March, Umarov and Sadullaev unequivocally condemn the recourse to terrorism advocated by fellow field commander Shamil Basaev. Umarov said terrorism "has not undergone any legitimization in the eyes of the Chechen resistance." He added that "we do not have the right" to commit such atrocities. "If we resort to such methods, I think no one will be able to return to a purely human image," he said.
RFE/RL reported that Umarov is an adherent of traditional, non-radical Islam. Correspondent Babitskii noted that "a new situation is emerging in the underground resistance." "If earlier the Wahhabis formed separate djamaats and fought independently of those Chechens who practiced traditional Islam, today...you can find men of diverging religious persuasions within a single armed formation, and this does not give rise to conflicts as it used to do when the salafits branded the adherents of traditional Islam as pagans and tried to convert them," Babitskii said.
Babitskii reported that the Chechen resistance currently move more freely throughout the republic than they did during his last visit two years ago, and seem less apprehensive of being tracked down and apprehended by Russian forces.
![[ rfe/rl banner ]](rferl-article.gif)
Chechnya: Vice President Denounces Terrorism, Basaev
By Liz Fuller
Prague, 15 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Senior Chechen field commander Doku Umarov, whom Chechen opposition President Abdul-Khalim Sadullaev named as his deputy last month, has condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated by his fellow field commander, Shamil Basaev, in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL correspondent Andrei Babitskii. The Russian authorities consider Umarov a terrorist.
Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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