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army completely withdrawn from Chechnya in 1997, Aslan Maskhadov was elected the Chechen president. Despite the corrupt election, Moscow welcomed the new president because he “was desperate to restore stability to the republic. [He] promised the Russian president that ‘there would be no place for terrorists in Chechnya’” (Bowker 73). However, his promise quickly unraveled. The new president could not establish control over the republic and “the virtually lawless enclave became a safe haven for extremists and terrorists, who often had international connections” (Trenin and Malashenko 13). As the republic spiraled out of control, “warlords set themselves up across the republic and grew rich through organized crime and kidnapping. A number of foreign Islamists also arrived in Chechnya with their own jihadist agenda and Chechnya became one of the most dangerous places in the world” (Bowker 72). As the republic descended into full anarchy, Maskhadov destroyed the elected parliament and introduced a government of Shariah law2 that alienated moderates within Chechnya and allowed radical Wahhabists3 to operate freely (Bowker 74). Chechnya specifically became an area of strategic interest for Osama bin Laden and his close aid Ayman al-Zawahiri as a possible training ground for Al Qaeda because of convenient geography such as tough mountainous terrain and large areas covered by forests and bush. Chechnya provided a lawless and strategic location at the crossroads of a major trading route connecting Central Asia with Transcaucasia and the Balkans, as well as a population of Chechen locals likely to endorse al Qaeda’s extremist ideology (Muraviev 164). Among major initiatives undertaken by Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Chechnya was the “decision to set up a comprehensive 2
Shariah is the sacred law of Islam as set forth by the Qur’an. Wahhabi is a Sunni Islamic teaching deriving from the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd-alWahhab. He advocated purging Islam of what he considers impurities. It is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabi teachings are often manipulated by terrorists such as Osama bin Laden to support global jihad. 3