Russia: February 13, 2004

Archives

As Chechen rebels have taken more casualties over the years, the role of foreign volunteers has grown. A 36 year old Saudi Arabian, Abu-al-Walid al-Ghamidi, is reported to be the leader of several hundred foreign (mainly Arab and Turkish) fighters operating in Chechnya. Al-Ghamidi is a conservative Moslem of the Wahhabi sect (as are most member of al Qaeda and most Saudis.) Al-Ghamidi was crucial in introducing suicide bombing to the Chechen war and is thought to be behind the last few major suicide bombing attacks. Al-Ghamidi and his men spend a lot of their time in bases across the border in Georgia. Russia has tense relations with Georgia because of that, and because several Soviet era Russian bases in Georgia are still operating. The Russians refuse Georgian requests to shut the bases and leave, and are not happy with the Georgian decision to accept military aid from the United States.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close