The head of the military committee of the State Defense Committee - Majlis ul-Shura of the
Replies to questions from the Swedish TT news agency
Q: Has your role in the Chechen separatist movement changed since the death of [former Chechen rebel President] Aslan Maskhadov?
S.Basayev: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Glory to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, who created us as Muslims and delivered us with a Jihad on His direct path! Peace
and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad, his family, his disciples, and
all those who follow his direct path to the Day of Judgment!
First of all, I wish to point out to you that we are not separatists. A
separatist is one who tries to distance himself from other people or
other things. We are not isolating ourselves from anyone, because we
are not a legal part of anyone. We restored our state's independence,
which had been lost as a result of the centuries-long Russian-Caucasian
war, in 1991. Any expert on the Caucasus or anyone interested in the
history of the Caucasus knows this. Therefore, the term separatist does
not apply to us.
As
far as your question is concerned, I can say that since Maskhadov's
death, my responsibility has increased, and I cannot allow myself to do
many of the things I did before.
The Mujahideen received the news of Maskhadov's death calmly and with a certain amount of pride in their leader.
Many
times I reminded him of the parable in the Bible, "Do not cast pearls
before swine", but Aslan was an idealist. Today, a great many people
are once again convinced that a brazen and unceremonious law of force,
rather than the force of the law, is dominant in the world.
And
no matter how much we try to come to terms with the rules of this
world, neither so-called international law, nor democracy, nor human
rights and other fancy things will save us from genocide; we merely
grow weaker from relying on these terms and promises. While they talk
to us about democracy, international law and the rest, 200,000 of our
people have been killed; that is 25 percent of our people. Imagine 2.5 million Swedes out of your 10-million population being wiped out.
Today
the whole world is willingly or unwillingly assisting in the genocide
of our people, just by demanding that we observe certain rules. The
situation is like that in a boxing ring, where a boxer and a kick boxer
are fighting. The referee, in the form of the world community, allows
the kick boxer to kick, while the boxer is not allowed to use his feet,
even to block his opponent's kicks, because there are no such rules in
boxing.
Many
people understand that in order to survive and to triumph in this war
you have to use the same weapons and use the same methods as your
enemy. We
must not try to please either the West or the East. We must be
ourselves, clench our teeth, and fight on, without looking to the
sides. As they say, "the path of evil is wide, and many people walk
down it. But the path of good is narrow, and few walk down it."
This is damaging to us in the tactical sense, but strategically it is our only real chance of victory.
Q: Where are you at the moment?
S.Basayev: In
Q: Why do you think that Aslan Maskhadov chose Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev to succeed him?
S.Basayev:
As I recall, the powers of president and emir [commander] were bestowed
on Sheikh Abdul-Khalim in accordance with our state law and the
decision of the State Defense Committee of the CRI. This was an
absolutely correct and legitimate decision.
Apart from that,
Sheikh Abdul-Khalim is a fair and most acceptable leader for all the
members of the resistance forces, and enjoys everyone's trust and
respect. He was a sincere aide and advisor to Maskhadov, and always
supported him in all the good deeds he performed. In most cases he was
a counterbalance to my opposition to Maskhadov, preventing us from
overstepping the mark. At the same time, he has one very good quality
which is appreciated by the Chechen people, and which I, for one,
lack—he is able to listen to everything anyone has to say.
Q:
The Russian authorities believe that Aslan Maskhadov's death will
reduce the terrorism of the Chechen separatists because funding from
abroad will be reduced. Do you agree?
S.Basayev:
I again point out to you my disagreement with the terms you are
using—'terrorism' and 'separatism.' We do not accept these terms in
relation to us. These terms are one of the forms of propaganda used against us.
As
far as the crux of your question is concerned, this is not true.
Whatever labels our enemies like to pin on us, we are waging a struggle
for national liberation from Russian imperialism, and such a struggle
does not depend on 'foreign funds.' We have taken this baton from our
forefathers, and this struggle has continued for centuries.
Just
to give you some idea of our mentality, I will give you an example
dating back 126 years. The Russists [derogatory term for Russians] used
trickery in calling for talks, and took prisoner 74-year-old Uma Duyev,
one of the leaders of the Chechen resistance at that time. He
was immediately sentenced to death by hanging. As he stood under the
scaffold with the noose around his neck, waiting for the stool to be
kicked away from under him, one of the local traitors went up to him
and asked him, "Why did you resist? Surely the Russians are much
stronger than you. You should have done what I did. Now you will die
without getting what you wanted, whereas I will live." Uma replied: "I
shall die happy to have lived as a free man, devoting my life to God
and my people, having killed quite a few enemies of my fatherland, and
relying on the mercy of the Almighty. You will live. But what will you
do with your worthless, slavish life? You will have one big basket of
maize and fill up one lavatory pit. And that's all!"
That sums up everything!
We
are not restricted today by timetables, and we are guided by
expedience. If it is to our advantage, we will become more active, and
if it is to our advantage, we will keep our attacks to a minimum. We
are never in a hurry, and life in a Jihad is better than Russian
enslavement. And we are striving to end this war only to end the genocide of the Chechen people.
Q:
Other people, on the other hand, think that there will now be more
terrorist acts, because there are no longer any Chechen leaders who
want to solve the conflict by peaceful means. What do you say to that?
S.Basayev: That is also untrue. We are not fighting for the sake of war. A Chechen proverb says, "A man is not one who knows how to fight, but one who knows where his enemy is."
We
are fighting to defend our freedom and independence from Russian
imperialism, and to protect ourselves from the next genocide of our
people. On the contrary, it is Rusnya [derogatory term for Russia]
where there are no leaders who wish to resolve this military conflict
by peaceful means, and the insidious murder of Maskhadov by the
Russists in response to his peace proposal is a clear testimony to this.
But
never mind; we will carry on until their imperial revanchist ardor,
combined with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's inferiority complex,
is ended. The days of the imperialists are numbered, and the Russists
will have to come to terms with this sooner or later.
Remember, I never said that I am fighting against the Russian people, but against the Russists. Because,
in the definition of our first President Dzhokhar Dudayev, "Russism is
an imperialist ideology which, in its misanthropy, is worse than
fascism or racism."
Q: When Aslan Maskhadov was alive, you were carrying out terrorist acts even though he condemned them. Will you now obey his successor?
S.Basayev: I'm very fond of the
I have always said, and I say again: If Putin observes international law, we will observe it with pleasure.
That’s what laws are for, so that all parties of a conflict would comply with them.
No one can prohobit me from responding to violence with violence. But
I swear to God that I am prepared to give up further subversive actions
(but not terrorist acts) against unarmed Russists if your news agency
can just show me the difference in favor of the Russists between the
murder of 267 women, children, and old people in a Grozny market place
by surface-to-surface missiles (illegal, incidentally, under
international law), and the blowing up of two of our martyrs at the
Tushino market in Moscow, which killed 16 Russists.
Q: If Abdul-Khalim Saydullayev wants to enter into talks with the Russians, are you prepared to obey him?
S.Basayev: Talks are the logical conclusion to any war. And
our President Sheikh Abdul- Khalim has said that he is open to dialogue
and prepared to discuss any peace initiatives, but he will never
himself ask for peace. I
support this approach, and will do all I can to help him establish a
just peace and stability, if this does not run counter to the laws of
the Almighty.
I would also like to point out that I was the first to swear allegiance to him. But
neither he nor anyone else can forbid me, while there is a war going
on—I stress, while there is a war going on—from doing that which God
permits me to do. And God says in the Qur'an:
"Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors."
I have always been trying not to restrain myself from hostilities. But the victims of Nord Ost [the
It
was not we who poisoned them with binary gas (banned from use by
international law) at Nord Ost, nor was it us who set fire to them with
flame throwers (also banned from use by international law) in Beslan.
Q: Have you had any contacts with Osama Bin Laden or other members of Al Qaeda recently?
S.Basayev:
Before asking questions, such a solid news agency as yours ought to
look at my previous interviews, where I have always said that I am not
acquainted with Bin Laden and have had no contact with him, although I
would very much like to meet him. Anyway, Putin has already 'appointed'
him as my commander.
One thing I know for certain is that he
cannot fundamentally be a villain, because his face gives out a strong
light in all the photographs which I have been lucky enough to see.
From my own experience, I know that
An
example of this is the story of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
and Saddam, whose overthrow I always supported, not for the benefit of
America, but because I saw in this an advantage for Muslims.
But they also pinned the bombing of houses in
Q: What is your attitude to this organization [Al Qaeda]?
S.Basayev:
My attitude is a normal one, with an element of caution, as one has
with any unknown quantity. Because all my life I have only seen two
'members' of Al Qaeda. And
not only were Khattab and Abu Walid not members of Al Qaeda, but they
did not even know Bin Laden. They had only seen him a few
It
is a very interesting situation; so long as a mujahid is alive, he is
my subordinate, but as soon as he dies, he becomes a member of Al Qaeda
and the 'main source of funds.'
Q: In an interview for British television you said you were planning new attacks like Beslan. In what part of the world and when can we expect new terrorist acts?
S.Basayev: Again, before asking this question, you should read my previous statements.
We are fighting only against Rusnya, and so far, only on its territory. You can expect subversive operations, but not terrorist acts, only in Rusnya and in Qatar, and only against citizens of Rusnya.
But
the fact that there were no major subversive activities this autumn and
winter is down to Maskhadov, and not the Russian special services. In
November, we spent 12 days together, and he got a commitment from me
that I would not interfere if he wished to conduct talks to end the
war, which the Russian leadership are surreptitiously proposing through
mediators, and that I would altogether desist from all subversive acts
during that time.
I have kept my word, although I have suffered
losses as a result of my inaction. Maskhadov is dead as a result of the
insidiousness of the Russists and because of his excessive desire for
peace, and now I am free from my commitment.
Q: How and when do you think the war in
S.Basayev:
Putin is a sick and ignorant person, otherwise he would have heeded the
ancient Persian proverb which says, "When a Shah goes mad he goes to
fight in the
Rusnya started this war, and all the 'keys' to peace are in the Kremlin.
The war, Insha’Allah [Allah willing], will end soon in
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of
Respectfully yours,