Land of the warlords (original) (raw)

In the end, there are perhaps just a few lengths of piping between Chechnya and a new civil war. It was late one night last month, and one of the tearaway relatives of Chechen prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov was driving out of the war-torn republic a truckload of oil pipework for sale on the black market in southern Russia.

Yet his family connections to Chechnya's de facto boss, the 29-year-old thuggish prime minister who rules the republic with a private army, were no free pass out of the republic. In order to cross the border he had to pass the stronghold of a rival warlord, Movladi Baysarov, a colonel in the Russian security services, the FSB. Baysarov's men stopped the truck and began asking questions, prompting their light-fingered new owner to ring his powerful relative, Ramzan.

"One of Kadyrov's deputies got together a thousand men and encircled Baysarov's stronghold to disarm him," said Rashid, a soldier in an armed unit loyal to Kadyrov who did not want to be identified. The incident soon gained a life of its own, exposing the deep rifts that Kadyrov's meteoric rise has created between the rival factions of pro-Russian Chechen warlords who today control the republic for Moscow.

"Baysarov ordered his men not to be the first to shoot, as he didn't want Chechens killing Chechens", said Rashid. "They came out and told Kadyrov's men that they were only 50 strong but ready to die like honest Muslims if it came to it."

The standoff could have ended in bloodshed and perhaps further conflict were it not for the president of Chechnya, Kadyrov's boss Alu Alkhanov, and another Chechen warlord, Said Magomed Kakiev, swinging in behind Baysarov and his men. They telephoned Kadyrov, forcing him to withdraw his troops.

Growing tension between the rival Chechen warlords who now hold sway in the republic is being fuelled by the presidential ambitions of prime minister Kadyrov. He turns 30 in October, the minimum age under the constitution for the top post of president, held by his father, Akhmad, until his assassination in May 2004.

"Ramzan wants to become a god in the republic," said Rashid. "Any group that does not obey him completely is deemed illegal."

Moscow has since 2003 slowly handed control of the republic to loyal Chechens in a bid to reduce troop numbers and wash its hands of a conflict it reignited through its second invasion of Chechnya over six years ago. Yet the growing power struggle between pro-Moscow Chechens threatens this withdrawal and erratic improvements to daily life, such as some better roads, running water and a drop in the number of abductions.

Kadyrov's presidential ambitions are obstructed by more experienced pro-Moscow Chechen commanders who head battalions of war-hardened mercenaries, some of whom gave rare interviews to the Guardian. They object to the inexperience and crude style of the young premier, a boxing fan who backs polygamy, has a pet lion and is friends with Mike Tyson.

Zair, the assumed name of a senior officer in one of Kadyrov's units, said: "They'll all go against Ramzan if he picks a fight. Any provocation and it could all go off."

Another incident in the last month helped expose these simmering rivalries. On April 25 Kadyrov attended a meeting with Alkhanov and a senior Kremlin official at the presidential administration. Alkhanov's security team would not allow Kadyrov's bodyguards into the building, so Kadyrov's security chief hit his counterpart in the face.

"There was a lot of shooting, mostly in the air," said Zair. "Alkhanov rang for the help of Said Magomed Kakiev", the powerful head of the "West" battalion of 900 Chechen fighters under the control of Russian military intelligence, the GRU. Rashid added: "When Kakiev got there, Kadyrov's lot left, saying they'd be back in 20 minutes. They never returned". At least three men were wounded in the exchange of fire, some reports suggesting two died.

Zair said Kadyrov then gathered senior MPs and put pressure on Alkhanov to claim he was seriously ill and resign in October. Anxious to prevent open conflict, Russian president Vladimir Putin summoned Alkhanov and Kadyrov to Moscow for a carpeting. Alkhanov returned to Grozny and told the Interfax news agency he was the elected president and would remain so. Yet Kadyrov retains his ambitions, many accusing him of being behind a poll recently circulated among Grozny residents asking whether he or Alkhanov was behind recent improvements in the capital.

Zair said Alkhanov has gained the support of not only Kakiev but Sulim Yamadayev, the head of the "East" battalion, 800 hardened special forces Chechens also under the control of the GRU. He said Yamadayev's men got into a shoot-out with Kadyrov's people 15 days ago in which up to three people were injured.

Alkhanov is also backed by Baysarov, a former confidant of Kadyrov's father. Baysarov has been declared an "outlaw" by Ramzan yet retains a unit of 50 men just outside Grozny, reportedly protected by the FSB. Baysarov is said to be broadly respected by Chechen commanders, as was highlighted by the recent conflict with Kadyrov's men.

Zair and Rashid, both mercenaries under Kadyrov's control, said they disliked the cult of personality Kadyrov was creating by putting up posters of himself around Grozny. They both said they would refuse to fight and stay at home if Kadyrov took on Baysarov. "Ramzan hardly speaks Russian at all," said Zair, in disdain at his poor education.

Amid the infighting, the threat posed by Islamic separatist militants led by Beslan mastermind Shamil Basayev has become a distraction. "We're too busy fighting amongst ourselves to care about the militants," said Zair. Yet the constant realignment of mercenaries under Kadyrov's control has raised fears militant numbers may grow.

Kadyrov was recently forced to disband the Anti-Terrorist Centre (ATS), a group of former militants on his payroll, after they were accused of repeated abuses and separatist sympathies. Zair and Rashid said one ATS commander, known as Mullah, had been caught feeding information to the separatists. "Ramzan ordered that his entire family be wiped out," they said.

Rashid said that only a fifth of the 10,000 hired guns in the ATS had been given new jobs in Kadyrov's forces, leaving 8,000 mercenaries without work. "Maybe some will stay at home, maybe some will join the militants," he said.

Who's who in the new Chechnya: