Russia Article Index : Current 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Why Geography
 Latest
 News
 
 Most
 Read
 
 Most
 Commented
 Hot
 Topics
August 24, 2005
   

  Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has joined the rebel government. The last moderate Chechen rebel leader, Aslan Maskhadov, was killed earlier this year. Now the official rebel "government" is dominated by radicals. Most of the more moderate rebels have quit fighting and joined the pro-Russian Chechen government. But the Islamic radicals that triggered the 1991 Russian invasion (by invading neighboring areas and trying to create a regional  Islamic dictatorship), have largely kept on fighting. The Russians, and their Chechen allies, have concluded that they will have to find and kill or capture all of the Islamic radicals.