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Al-Ahram Weekly 19 - 25 August 1999 Issue No. 443 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 19 - 25 August 1999 Issue No. 443
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Nationalists and Islamists
By Abdel-Malek KhalilThe Sheikh of Al-Azhar and former Mufti Mohamed Sayed Tantawi was recently quoted in Russia's most widely read newspaper Nyzavestiesymaia Gazetia as saying that Russia's Muslims should desist from "fundamentalism" and "militancy". On a two-page spread entitled We Live Under the Same Sky and Live on the Same Land, Tantawi was quoted as urging the country's Muslims to remember that all humans are God's creation and that they should avoid bigotry and prejudice against non-Muslims. Tantawi was referring to Russian fears that following the military fiasco in Afghanistan during the 1980s and in the Russian breakaway republic of Chechnya between 1994 and 1996, militant Islamic 'fundamentalism' could now be emanating from Daghestan.
Islamist groups are blamed for fomenting trouble in the Northern Caucasus Mountains which includes several, predominantly Muslim, autonomous republics such as Chechnya and Daghestan.
The perception in Russia is that regional unrest is the work of fundamentalist zealots rather than the result of nationalist tendencies. Observers emphasise that Chechen and Daghestani rebel leaders want to establish Islamist states on Russian soil. The armed insurgents, for their part, say that they do not want Muslims in Russia to pay taxes to a "secular" and "faithless" government.
In response, Russian Su-25 warplane and combat helicopters pounded Islamist groups in Chechnya and Daghestan over the weekend. Intense Russian air raids around the villages of Ansalta, Rahata and Shodroda, in the Botlikh region of Daghestan preceded a forceful ground offensive.
Botlikh is a remote and rugged area in the multi-ethnic region of the Caucasus Mountains. While the people of Daghestan and Chechnya are predominantly Muslim, the emergence of Islamist insurrectionist groups is a recent phenomenon. Muslim forces first gathered strength in Chechnya, which effectively broke away from Russian rule in 1996. Most of the gunmen in Daghestan have infiltrated the small, three-million strong autonomous republic from neighbouring Chechnya.
This weekend's fighting in Daghestan represents the most serious challenge to Russia's authority in the restive Caucasus region since Russian President Boris Yeltsin's ill-fated campaign against Chechen separatists.
Russia's Air Force Commander, Col. Gen. Anatoly Kornukhov, meanwhile said the elimination of rebels in Daghestan would be completed soon. Russia's recently nominated Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also signalled that the campaign might be carried into Chechnya, the strongest indication yet that violence in Daghestan could lead to a wider war encompassing Chechnya and other pockets of resistance throughout the Caucasus.
The insurgents in Daghestan, who are well versed in guerrilla warfare and are familiar with the difficult terrain of the region, are led by the legendary Chechen warlord Shamil Basavev and a Jordanian Islamist known as "Al-Khattab". There are also unconfirmed Russian reports that many Arab Afghans, and nationals from various Muslim countries are fighting alongside Daghestan's rebels.
Meanwhile, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov on Sunday issued a decree introducing a state of emergency in Chechnya. Maskhadov denied Russian allegations that his troops were involved in the Daghestan uprising. Moscow has also warned foreign governments against interfering in its internal affairs. However, it is still not clear how much of the violence is instigated by outside forces. The critical question is whether the fighting could result in yet another breakaway Muslim republic. That would be a serious blow to Russia's credibility as a second rate regional, let alone a world, power.
