Doku Umarov
Encyclopedia
Doku Khamatovich Umarov ' onMouseout='HidePop("4555")' href="/topics/Arabization">Arabized
name of "Dokka Abu Usman") (born April 13, 1964) is a major Chechen
Islamist rebel militant in Russia. He is responsible for numerous terror attacks on civilians, earning himself the nickname "Russia's Osama Bin Laden
".
Between 2006 and 2007, Umarov was the underground
President
of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
(ChRI). He subsequently became the self-proclaimed Emir
of the Russian North Caucasus
, which is an unrecognized Islamic state
known as the Caucasus Emirate
. He is currently a high value criminal in Russia for the alleged crimes of kidnapping
, homicide
and treason
. He is one of the major rebel leaders in Russia and has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks, including the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings and the 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing. The attacks killed 40 and 36 civilians respectively, and injured hundreds.
On August 1, 2010, Umarov resigned his position and appointed Aslambek Vadalov
as the new Emir of the Caucasus Emirate. However, on August 4 he issued a statement "annulling" the previous declaration and stating he would remain in his position. In July 2011, a sharia
court ruled in favour of Umarov over the rift, following which the other rebels re-swore allegiance to him.
On March 10, 2011 the United Nations Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee added Umarov to the list of individuals associated with Al-Qaida.
(the same clan as the warlord Arbi Barayev
and the Chechen ex-foreign minister Ilyas Akhmadov
) in April 1964 in the small village of Kharsenoi (Kharsenoy) in Shatoysky District
region in southern Chechnya. He graduated from the construction faculty
of the Oil Institute in the Chechen capital Grozny
with a higher education degree as a construction engineer
.
military base near Grozny, Prosecutor General of Russia
Vladimir Ustinov
suggested the practice of taking rebel leaders' relatives hostage. In 2005, the Russian leading human rights group Memorial
blamed pro-Moscow Chechen forces ("Kadyrovtsy
") for a policy of abductions of the rebels' relatives. On May 5, 2005, a group of masked attackers kidnapped Umarov's wife, his one-year-old son, and his 74-year-old father Khamad (Hamad). According to the rebel sources, Umarov's family was abducted by the employees of the Oil Regiment (Neftepolk, headed by Adam Delimkhanov) and held in a Kadyrov's personal prison in the village of Tsentoroi
. A few months before that, on February 24, Umarov's brother Ruslan had too been kidnapped by armed men and then allegedly tortured by the FSB at Khankala base. Umarov's wife and son were later freed, but his elderly father and the younger brother both have disappeared and in April 2007, Umarov declared his father has been murdered in captivity. In August 2005, Umarov's sister Natalia (Natasha) Khumaidova was abducted in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan
; she was released days later, after local residents protesting for her return rallied and blocked a federal highway, and in 2003–2004, his cousin Zaurbek Umarov and nephew Roman Atayev were also reportedly detained in Chechnya and in Ingushetia, but then have disappeared.
when the first Russian-Chechen war
began in December 1994, he returned to Chechnya to fulfill what he said was his patriotic
duty to fight. Umarov initially served under the command of Ruslan Gelayev. But in 1996, due to disagreements with Gelayev, he left the unit and joined the command of Akhmed Zakayev
, who had also left Gelayev's ranks to lead the special forces unit Borz ("Wolf"). In the course of the war, in which his unit was expanded from a battalion to regiment, Umarov was promoted to the rank of brigadier general
and won two of Ichkeria
's highest awards for valor and bravery: Hero of the Nation (Kyoman Turpal) and Honour of the Nation (Kioman Syi).
Following the Khasav-Yurt Accord
that ended the first Chechen war in 1996 and the presidential election
of Aslan Maskhadov
in January 1997, Umarov was named by Maskhadov to head the Chechen Security Council. In that position, he intervened in July 1998 to quash an armed clash between moderates and Islamic radicals in the city of Gudermes
. However, he was forced to resign when the Council was disbanded because of persistent rumors of his participation in hostage
-taking "business". In 1999, he was accused of the kidnapping of General Gennady Shpigun
, the Russian envoy to Chechnya.
in September 1999 as a field commander, again working closely with Ruslan Gelayev in the siege for Grozny. In early 2000 Umarov sustained a serious wound to his face as he was leaving a surrounded Grozny and was hospitalized in a third country alongside Zakayev. According to Georgia
n intelligence
, Umarov then led a force of 130–150 fighters in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge
before his return to Chechnya in the summer of 2002.
Back in Chechnya, Umarov became the replacement of Isa Munayev on the post of the commander of Southwestern Front, the terrorist military region southwest of Grozny that bordered on Georgia and the Russian republic of Ingushetia
; he was seen as having been an ally of Vedeno
-based Shamil Basayev
. In 2003 Gelayev led his men in the heavy fighting around the town of Shatoy
and according to the Russian sources ordered the bombing of the Ingushetia FSB headquarters in the Ingush capital Magas
and the attack on electrical infrastructure facilities in the city of Kislovodsk
in Stavropol Krai
. After death of Gelayev in February 2004, many of his remaining men joined Umarov's command. The next year, together with Basayev, Umarov was one of the leaders of a large-scale raid
into neighbouring Ingushetia in the summer of 2004. Through 2005, there were numerous incorrect reports of Umarov's death or grave injury. In January, he was reported having been killed in a gun battle with the Russian special forces near the Georgian border. In March, he was reported as having been seriously wounded by a Spetznaz assassination team. In September, the MVD announced it had found "Umarov's grave" and the following month in October he was once again falsely reported dead in the rebel raid on Nalchik, the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria
. In April 2005, Russian special forces destroyed a small guerrilla unit during a battle in a residential area of Grozny after receiving intelligence that Umarov was with them, yet he was not found among the dead. In May 2005, Umarov was reportedly seriously hurt when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine
. He was said to have lost a leg in the blast, but turned out to be only lightly injured and participated in an attack on the village of Roshni-Chu
three months later. In May 2006, Chechen police discovered his headquarters bunker in the center of the village of Assinovskaya on the border with Ingushetia, however Umarov managed to escape in time. By this time he had already become a vice-president of the separatist government.
Sheikh Abdul Halim
on June 17, 2006. Having become president, Umarov also held such posts as the head of the State Defense Council
; Amir (commander) of the Madzhlis Shura of the Caucasus
; Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria; and finally, Amir of the Mujahideen
of the Caucasus. In his first published comments since assuming the role of president, Umarov vowed to expand the conflict to "many regions of Russia", praised his predecessor Sadulayev, indicated that a special unit was being formed to fight Chechnya's "most odious traitors" (a remark believed to refer to the present federal Chechen administration) and stressed that the Chechen rebels would attack only military
and police
targets within Russia, including in the newly-declared Urals
and Volga Region
Fronts. On June 27, 2006, Umarov appointed the maverick Chechen commander Shamil Basayev to the position of vice-president of the separatist government, simultaneously releasing him from his position as first deputy prime minister
; Ichkeria's foreign minister, Usman Firzauli, said that the appointment was meant to force Russia into political negotiations, for if they killed Umarov, then the radical Basayev would have become the official leader of the Chechen separatist movement. However, Basayev was killed soon afterward, in July 2006; on March 19, 2007, Kavkaz Center
website reported that Umarov has appointed Supyan Abdullayev
as the new vice-president of the ChRI. In October 2007, Umarov made another controversial move when he posthumously restored the disgraced notorious field commander Arbi Barayev
to the rank of brigadier general, which was stripped of him by Maskhadov in 1998.
On August 18, 2006, Umarov was falsely announced to have surrendered at the Gudermes residence of Ramzan Kadyrov
, the Russians bayed Chechen leader, under a Russian amnesty
provision enacted after Basayev's death; however, Russian authorities later reversed it to a claim of surrender of Umarov's "younger brother and former head of body guards" (Umarov maintains he has no younger brother and the later reports identified the allegedly surrendered person as his older brother Akhmad instead; for their part, the Chechen separatists said that the older Umarov disappeared two years before and claimed that the presentation of the Chechen leader's brother was "a PR
stunt"). Umarov himself has previously called the amnesty as "a hopeless attempt by the Kremlin regime to shroud the real situation... in lies." On November 23, 2006, large numbers of Russian Defense Ministry and the FSB troops, without the participation of Chechen police, supported by helicopters and artillery barrages, were reported to have surrounded Umarov and his forces in a forest near the village of Yandi-Katar in the Achkhoy-Martanovsky District, on the internal border between Ingushetia and Chechnya. According to Kommersant
sources, Umarov has been wounded in the operation but managed to escape the pursuit. He then spent the winter months travelling across the mountains to the nearby republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
to meet with local jamaat
s fighting Russian authorities in the region and consolidate the Caucasian Front
, the pan-Caucasian Islamic militant network set up by the late President Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev. In April 2007, a group of fighters which might have been personally led by Umarov shot down a Russian troop transport helicopter
near Shatoy.
, aimed at uniting Northern Caucasus into a single Islamic state) and at once declared himself its Emir
, thereby converting the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
into a vilayat (province) of the new emirate. The move to establish the Emirate was quickly condemned by Akhmed Zakayev, by then until recently Umarov's own minister of foreign affairs. Zakayev, living in exile in London, called upon all separatist fighters and politicians to pledge allegiance directly to the Chechen parliament
in an attempt to isolate his former subordinate from power. Zakayev expressed regret that Umarov had caved in to pressure from "provocateurs
" and committed a "crime" that undermines the legitimacy of the ChRI. In a one-day period two former senior field commanders, Isa Munayev and Sultan Arsayev, issued statements publicly siding with Zakayev and distancing themselves from Umarov. However, all of the prominent active field commanders in Chechnya, with the sole exception of Amir Mansur (Arbi Evmirzayev, the leader of the Islamic Jamaat
of Chechnya who was killed in 2010; also some small-time commanders such as Amir Khamza and Amir Surkho of Islamic Brigade of Chechnya and Staraya Sunzha Sabotage Group), had sided with Dokka Umarov on the decision.
Famous Radio Liberty journalist Andrei Babitsky
reported in November 2007 that Umarov had again travelled to the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria to rest and recuperate for the winter months. Babitsky said that Umarov was in a poor state of health after taking a shrapnel wound to his lower jaw (it is possible Umarov received the wound in 2006 when he broke out of a Russian encirclement on the Chechen/Ingush border) and after his leg was injured in a mine explosion. Pro-Moscow Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov offered him medical care if Umarov were to "beg for forgiveness". On May 9, 2009, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that Umarov has been reportedly severely wounded once again and four of his bodyguards have been killed in an operation commanded by Kadyrov's cousin and deputy Adam Delimkhanov
(early rumors even claimed that Umarov had even been killed and in June the Russian authorities forensically examined the four burned corpses to see whether they included that of Umarov). All this was denied by the rebel sources; in next month Umarov himself phoned the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to say he's alive; and in an interview conducted in July 2009 with Prague Watchdog
Umarov maintained that the last time he was wounded was in 1995 during the First Chechen War. On January 19, 2010, Kadyrov announced that he had launched another Delimkhanov-led special operation in Chechnya’s mountains to find and eliminate Umarov.
On June 10, 2010, special presidential representative for the fight against international terrorism and organized crime, Anatoly Safonov, said that the detention or destruction of Doku Umarov is a matter for the near future.
On 16 June, 2010, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has also considered the capture of Doku Umarov's case of time. Kadyrov told that was intercepted by the flash card that Umarov has sent his representative in Ukraine. Words Umarov Kadyrov has translated this way: health on my last stage, no one helps me, I myself can not do anything, not controlling anything, no connection, and the only thing that remains for me now, mine and blow himself.
as his successor. He appointed Vadalov saying "that jihad should be led by younger and more energetic commanders." Although he added that he would "continue to wage jihad and will do his utmost to help the new leadership. [Stepping down] does not mean that I give up jihad. I will do whatever I can by word and deed."
On 4 August, he contradicted the claim issued by him on video saying "Due to the situation in the Caucasus I consider that it is impossible for me to quit my duties. The previous declaration is annulled. It is a falsification. I declare that my health is good to serve Allah
. And I will serve the word of Allah and work to kill the enemies of Allah in all the time that he gives me to live on this earth." He called the initial video a "fabrication," but did not say why there was a conflict.
court ruled in favour of Umarov to close the rift caused by Umarov's reorganisation of the "armed forces" of Chechnya, the disbanding the so-called "eastern and south-western fronts" and dividing Chechnya into "military sectors." The court asked the rebels to re-swear allegiance to Umarov. Amir Khamzat, the commander of the Riyad-us-Saliheen Martyr Brigade or the organisation's suicide battalion who has been named the commander of the western sector. Hussein Gakayev
, who had been named to lead the eastern sector, Aslambek Vadalov
and Tarkhan Gaziyev
consequently followed suit and re-affirmed their allegiance to Umarov.
He then warned Russia that it would be the target of a new strenghtened insurgency as he promised a year of "blood and tears"http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=230940 as a result of the new unity.http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/umarov-promises-new-chapter-in-insurgency/441095.html
". There is no real record that indicates he has ever followed or is currently a follower of sufism
. He has always described himself as a "traditionalist". Responding to Russian claims that he was an Islamic extremist, he described himself as a "traditionalist" and said: "Before the start of the first war in 1994, when the occupation began and I understood that war was inevitable, I came here as a patriot. I'm not even sure I knew how to pray properly then. It's ridiculous to say I'm a Wahhabist or a radical Muslim." Umarov denied that the Chechen separatism is linked to al-Qaeda
or any other international jihad
ist groups, saying that the rebels' priority is liberty and independence
from Russia and peace for the Caucasus. However, in the same 2007 statement in which Umarov proclaimed the Caucasus Emirate, he expressed solidarity with "brothers in Afghanistan
, Iraq
, Somalia
and Palestine
" and described "everyone who attacked Muslims" as common enemies of Muslims worldwide. His deputy Anzor Astemirov
soon retracted this statement, although saying they still held Israel
to be an enemy. Prior to the declaration of his emirate, Umarov was commonly viewed as a staunch Chechen nationalist and had been expected by many observers to rather curb the pan-Islamist
tendencies in the separatist movement.
In the video in which Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for the Domodedovo International Airport bombing
, calling the major powers in the world "Satanic" he criticized the US and Russia for being hyprocrites, in that if they actually followed their own principles, they would have to surrender world power to China, due to the senior status of Chinese culture and religion. He said, according to the logic of Russia and America, "China should then rule the world. They have the largest and most ancient cultures". He also attacked the USA, Russia, Britain, and Israel for oppressing Muslims.
Umarov had been incorrectly identified by Russian security forces and some hostages as an in-site leader of the hostage takers, a claim which was later officially refuted; Umarov himself condemned the act and distanced himself from terrorism.
In March 2008, Chechnya's chief prosecutor, Valery Kuznetsov, launched a criminal case against Umarov for "inciting inter-ethnic hatred
and calling for the overthrow of the Russian government on the Internet
" (the penalty for this is only a fine of up to 500,000 ruble
s and a ban on holding management positions); according to Kommersant, Umarov was earlier on Russia's wanted list, but all the previous and much more serious charges against him were suspended in 2005 (the paper also noted that Zakayev-led ChRI government in exile
is investigating Umarov for "attempting to liquidate the independent Chechen state" by declaring the creation of a Caucasus Emirate).
On several occasions, Umarov firmly denied any involvement in indiscriminate terrorism and questioned its legitimacy and value. In a June 2005 interview with Andrei Babitsky, he criticized Basayev for ordering the Beslan raid, saying that most of the Chechen resistance does not consider the Beslan hostage taking was a legitimate response to Russian actions in Chechnya ("if we resort to such methods, I do not think any of us will be able to retain his human face").
Umarov's controversial appointment of Basayev to the post of prime minister in 2006 was precedeed by a public statement rejecting terrorism against civilians as a tactic. In another statement in 2004 Umarov wrote: "Our targets are the Russian occupation forces, their military bases, command headquarters and also their local collaborationists who pursue and kill peaceful Muslims. Civil objects and innocent civilians are not our targets."
However, in early 2009 he has been by his own admission personally involved in the re-activation of notorious Riyadus-Salikhin suicide formation
, first set-up and led by Basayev between 1999 and 2004; in the next months a string of suicide attacks killed dozens of people (mostly police officers) and critically injured the Ingush president Yunus-bek Yevkurov
, raising fears of a new campaign of terror directed against Russian civilians. In a July 2009 interview with Prague Watchdog
, when asked if people should expect a repetition of events like the Beslan and Moscow
hostage crises, Umarov responded: "If that is the will of Allah
. Shamil [Basayev] did not have the opportunities I have right now. (...) As far as possible we will try to avoid civilian targets, but for me there are no civilians in Russia. Why? Because a genocide
of our people is being carried out with their tacit consent."
In December, the Caucasus Emirate (via Kavkaz Center) took responsibility for the derailment of Nevsky Express
, an "act of sabotage
" which claimed the lives of 27 people (including two civilian government officials and also many other travellers), reportedly conducted on the orders of Umarov. The Caucaus Emirate was officially labeled by Russia as a terrorist organization in January 2010. The same month, in a statement about the upcoming "military actions", Umarov said the re-created Riyad-us-Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs
will now operate in the Russian cities outside the Caucasus and "the war will come to their [Russians'] homes", possibly indicating the new wave of terrorist bombings such as those conducted by the group in Moscow and elsewhere in 2002–2004 under Basayev's orders.
On March 31, 2010 Umarov claimed responsibility for personally ordering the Moscow Metro bombings
which took the lives of 40 civilians and injured over 60. He also warned that more attacks were to come on Russian soil because of perceived repressions of Chechnya by Prime Minister Putin.
On February 7, 2011 Umarov claimed responsibility in a video posted online for ordering a suicide bombing at Domodedovo International Airport
, Russia's busiest airport. The bombing killed 36 people, and was described by Umarov as a "special operation," targeting both the Russian people and prime minister Vladimir Putin.
and the United States
for terrorists acts. The United States has offered $5 million for information leading to his capture. Since 10 March 2011, Umarov has also been on the United Nations Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee list of individuals associated with Al-Qaida.
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
name of "Dokka Abu Usman") (born April 13, 1964) is a major Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
Islamist rebel militant in Russia. He is responsible for numerous terror attacks on civilians, earning himself the nickname "Russia's Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
".
Between 2006 and 2007, Umarov was the underground
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
(ChRI). He subsequently became the self-proclaimed Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
of the Russian North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
, which is an unrecognized Islamic state
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...
known as the Caucasus Emirate
Caucasus Emirate
The Caucasus Emirate also known as the Caucasian Emirate is a self-proclaimed virtual state entity, partially successor to the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and was officially announced on October 31, 2007 by former President of Ichkeria Dokka Umarov, who became the first Emir...
. He is currently a high value criminal in Russia for the alleged crimes of kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
and treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. He is one of the major rebel leaders in Russia and has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks, including the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings and the 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing. The attacks killed 40 and 36 civilians respectively, and injured hundreds.
On August 1, 2010, Umarov resigned his position and appointed Aslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Ilimsultanovich Vadalov , also known by his nom de guerre Emir Aslambek, is a Chechen rebel leader fighting in the North Caucasus. He was appointed the supreme leader of the Caucasus Emirate on 1 August 2010, though this was later retracted....
as the new Emir of the Caucasus Emirate. However, on August 4 he issued a statement "annulling" the previous declaration and stating he would remain in his position. In July 2011, a sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
court ruled in favour of Umarov over the rift, following which the other rebels re-swore allegiance to him.
On March 10, 2011 the United Nations Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee added Umarov to the list of individuals associated with Al-Qaida.
Early life
Umarov was born to Khamad Umarov of the Malkoy teipTeip
Teip is a Chechen and Ingush tribal organization or clan, self-identified through descent from a common ancestor and geographic location. There are about 130-233 teips...
(the same clan as the warlord Arbi Barayev
Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
and the Chechen ex-foreign minister Ilyas Akhmadov
Ilyas Akhmadov
Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov served as the foreign minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He currently resides in the United States, where he was granted political asylum.-Biography:...
) in April 1964 in the small village of Kharsenoi (Kharsenoy) in Shatoysky District
Shatoysky District
Shatoysky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. Its administrative center is the rural locality of Shatoy. District's population: 13,155 . Population of Shatoy accounts for 13.5% of the district's population....
region in southern Chechnya. He graduated from the construction faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
of the Oil Institute in the Chechen capital Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
with a higher education degree as a construction engineer
Construction engineering
Construction engineering is a professional discipline that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and management of infrastructures such as highways, bridges, airports, railroads, buildings, dams, and utilities. Construction Engineers are unique such that they are a cross between civil...
.
Family
Dokka Umarov is married, with six children, the youngest of whom was born in 2006. Two of Umarov's brothers, Isa and Musa, have been killed in combat. Since 2003, several of Umarov's relatives (as well as many relatives of the other Chechen separatist leaders), including all of his immediate family, have been kidnapped by "unidentified armed men" (presumably government agents); some of them were promptly released but the others have disappeared and may be dead. Shortly after the Beslan hostage-taking raid in 2004, during which Umarov's close relatives were held for several days at KhankalaKhankala
Khankala is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population:...
military base near Grozny, Prosecutor General of Russia
Prosecutor General of Russia
The Prosecutor General of Russia heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russian Federation ....
Vladimir Ustinov
Vladimir Ustinov
Vladimir Vasilyevich Ustinov is a Russian politician.He currently is the Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District. Until 2008, he was Russia's Minister of Justice....
suggested the practice of taking rebel leaders' relatives hostage. In 2005, the Russian leading human rights group Memorial
Memorial (society)
Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....
blamed pro-Moscow Chechen forces ("Kadyrovtsy
Kadyrovtsy
Kadyrovtsy also Kadyrovites, is a term used by the population of Chechnya, as well as members of the groups themselves, for former members of the paramilitary units of the former pro-Moscow President of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov, headed by his son and the current President Ramzan...
") for a policy of abductions of the rebels' relatives. On May 5, 2005, a group of masked attackers kidnapped Umarov's wife, his one-year-old son, and his 74-year-old father Khamad (Hamad). According to the rebel sources, Umarov's family was abducted by the employees of the Oil Regiment (Neftepolk, headed by Adam Delimkhanov) and held in a Kadyrov's personal prison in the village of Tsentoroi
Tsentoroi
Tsentoroy is a rural locality in Shalinsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located east-southeast of Grozny, the republic's capital, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains....
. A few months before that, on February 24, Umarov's brother Ruslan had too been kidnapped by armed men and then allegedly tortured by the FSB at Khankala base. Umarov's wife and son were later freed, but his elderly father and the younger brother both have disappeared and in April 2007, Umarov declared his father has been murdered in captivity. In August 2005, Umarov's sister Natalia (Natasha) Khumaidova was abducted in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan is a town and the administrative center of Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Martan River. The town is located in the central part of the republic, to the southwest of the capital Grozny. Population:...
; she was released days later, after local residents protesting for her return rallied and blocked a federal highway, and in 2003–2004, his cousin Zaurbek Umarov and nephew Roman Atayev were also reportedly detained in Chechnya and in Ingushetia, but then have disappeared.
First Chechen War and interwar period
Although Umarov was either in Moscow or the Tyumen OblastTyumen Oblast
Tyumen Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tyumen. The oblast has administrative jurisdiction over two autonomous okrugs—Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Tyumen is the largest city, with over half a million inhabitants...
when the first Russian-Chechen war
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
began in December 1994, he returned to Chechnya to fulfill what he said was his patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
duty to fight. Umarov initially served under the command of Ruslan Gelayev. But in 1996, due to disagreements with Gelayev, he left the unit and joined the command of Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev is the former Deputy Prime Minister and the current Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , which is unrecognised by other countries...
, who had also left Gelayev's ranks to lead the special forces unit Borz ("Wolf"). In the course of the war, in which his unit was expanded from a battalion to regiment, Umarov was promoted to the rank of brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
and won two of Ichkeria
Ichkeria
Ichkeria can refer to:* Ichkeria , the historical Turkic name for a region more or less coinciding with the Republic of Chechnya* Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, the secessionist government of Chechnya...
's highest awards for valor and bravery: Hero of the Nation (Kyoman Turpal) and Honour of the Nation (Kioman Syi).
Following the Khasav-Yurt Accord
Khasav-Yurt Accord
Khasavyurt Accord was an agreement that marked the end of the First Chechen War, signed in Khasavyurt in Dagestan on August 30, 1996 between Alexander Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov....
that ended the first Chechen war in 1996 and the presidential election
Presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is president.- United States :The United States has elections on the state and local levels...
of Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...
in January 1997, Umarov was named by Maskhadov to head the Chechen Security Council. In that position, he intervened in July 1998 to quash an armed clash between moderates and Islamic radicals in the city of Gudermes
Gudermes
Gudermes is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny. Population: 32,000 .Gudermes had a rural locality status until 1941. Later, it became a railroad junction between Rostov-on-Don, Baku, Astrakhan, and Mozdok. Gudermes is home for oil extraction...
. However, he was forced to resign when the Council was disbanded because of persistent rumors of his participation in hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
-taking "business". In 1999, he was accused of the kidnapping of General Gennady Shpigun
Gennady Shpigun
General Gennady Nikolaevich Shpigun was the Russian Interior Ministry's special representative in Chechnya....
, the Russian envoy to Chechnya.
Second Chechen War
Umarov began the current Chechen warSecond Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
in September 1999 as a field commander, again working closely with Ruslan Gelayev in the siege for Grozny. In early 2000 Umarov sustained a serious wound to his face as he was leaving a surrounded Grozny and was hospitalized in a third country alongside Zakayev. According to Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
n intelligence
Georgian Intelligence Service
The Georgian Intelligence Service is a national intelligence agency of Georgia, with its headquarters in Tbilisi. The current head of the service is Gela Bezhuashvili, appointed in 2008....
, Umarov then led a force of 130–150 fighters in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi Gorge
The Pankisi Gorge or Pankisi is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it is included in the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region...
before his return to Chechnya in the summer of 2002.
Back in Chechnya, Umarov became the replacement of Isa Munayev on the post of the commander of Southwestern Front, the terrorist military region southwest of Grozny that bordered on Georgia and the Russian republic of Ingushetia
Ingushetia
The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
; he was seen as having been an ally of Vedeno
Vedeno
Vedeno is a rural locality in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located some southeast of Grozny. It is the administrative center of Vedensky District. Population: 11,512 ;...
-based Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
. In 2003 Gelayev led his men in the heavy fighting around the town of Shatoy
Shatoy
Shatoy or Shatoi is a village in the Chechen Republic, Russia. It is the administrative center of Shatoysky District. Population: 1,771 . It is the home village of underground rebel President Doku Umarov. Geographical location: ....
and according to the Russian sources ordered the bombing of the Ingushetia FSB headquarters in the Ingush capital Magas
Magas
Magas is the capital of the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. The town was founded in 1995; it replaced Nazran as the capital of the republic in 2002. In terms of population, Magas is the smallest capital of a federal subject in Russia: -History:...
and the attack on electrical infrastructure facilities in the city of Kislovodsk
Kislovodsk
Kislovodsk is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, which lies in the North Caucasian region of the country, between the Black and Caspian Seas. The closest airport is located in the city of Mineralnye Vody. Population:...
in Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai
Stavropol Krai is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Stavropol. Population: -Geography:Stavropol Krai encompasses the central part of the Fore-Caucasus and most of the northern slopes of Caucasus Major...
. After death of Gelayev in February 2004, many of his remaining men joined Umarov's command. The next year, together with Basayev, Umarov was one of the leaders of a large-scale raid
2004 Nazran raid
The Nazran raid was a large-scale raid carried out in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia, on the night of June 21-22, 2004, by a large number of mostly Chechen and Ingush militants led by the Chechen commander Shamil Basayev...
into neighbouring Ingushetia in the summer of 2004. Through 2005, there were numerous incorrect reports of Umarov's death or grave injury. In January, he was reported having been killed in a gun battle with the Russian special forces near the Georgian border. In March, he was reported as having been seriously wounded by a Spetznaz assassination team. In September, the MVD announced it had found "Umarov's grave" and the following month in October he was once again falsely reported dead in the rebel raid on Nalchik, the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
. In April 2005, Russian special forces destroyed a small guerrilla unit during a battle in a residential area of Grozny after receiving intelligence that Umarov was with them, yet he was not found among the dead. In May 2005, Umarov was reportedly seriously hurt when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine
Anti-personnel mine
Anti-personnel mines are a form of land mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles...
. He was said to have lost a leg in the blast, but turned out to be only lightly injured and participated in an attack on the village of Roshni-Chu
Roshni-chu
Roshni-chu is a village in Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located about 23 km southwest of Grozny...
three months later. In May 2006, Chechen police discovered his headquarters bunker in the center of the village of Assinovskaya on the border with Ingushetia, however Umarov managed to escape in time. By this time he had already become a vice-president of the separatist government.
Chechen presidency
As vice-president, Umarov was automatically elevated to the position as supreme leader of the ChRI following the death of President of IchkeriaPresident of Ichkeria
This is a list of Presidents of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a pro-independence movement that controlled most of Chechnya from 1991 to 1999...
Sheikh Abdul Halim
Sheikh Abdul Halim
Abdul-Halim Salamovich Sadulayev was the fourth President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
on June 17, 2006. Having become president, Umarov also held such posts as the head of the State Defense Council
State Defense Council
The State Defense Council is the military command committee of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , established by the separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev in 1992....
; Amir (commander) of the Madzhlis Shura of the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
; Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria; and finally, Amir of the Mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
of the Caucasus. In his first published comments since assuming the role of president, Umarov vowed to expand the conflict to "many regions of Russia", praised his predecessor Sadulayev, indicated that a special unit was being formed to fight Chechnya's "most odious traitors" (a remark believed to refer to the present federal Chechen administration) and stressed that the Chechen rebels would attack only military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
targets within Russia, including in the newly-declared Urals
Urals Federal District
Ural Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. The district was established on 13 May 2000 by a decree of the President of Russia. The district is mostly located in the geographical region of Ural, but also includes some parts of the Volga Region; its extent is different...
and Volga Region
Volga Region
Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...
Fronts. On June 27, 2006, Umarov appointed the maverick Chechen commander Shamil Basayev to the position of vice-president of the separatist government, simultaneously releasing him from his position as first deputy prime minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
; Ichkeria's foreign minister, Usman Firzauli, said that the appointment was meant to force Russia into political negotiations, for if they killed Umarov, then the radical Basayev would have become the official leader of the Chechen separatist movement. However, Basayev was killed soon afterward, in July 2006; on March 19, 2007, Kavkaz Center
Kavkaz Center
The Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures"...
website reported that Umarov has appointed Supyan Abdullayev
Supyan Abdullayev
Supyan Abdullayev was the former vice president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He was appointed to this position on March 19, 2007, by the President of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Doku Umarov...
as the new vice-president of the ChRI. In October 2007, Umarov made another controversial move when he posthumously restored the disgraced notorious field commander Arbi Barayev
Arbi Barayev
Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev , nicknamed "The Terminator", was a renegade Chechen warlord often accused of clandestine links with the Russian special services...
to the rank of brigadier general, which was stripped of him by Maskhadov in 1998.
On August 18, 2006, Umarov was falsely announced to have surrendered at the Gudermes residence of Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
, the Russians bayed Chechen leader, under a Russian amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
provision enacted after Basayev's death; however, Russian authorities later reversed it to a claim of surrender of Umarov's "younger brother and former head of body guards" (Umarov maintains he has no younger brother and the later reports identified the allegedly surrendered person as his older brother Akhmad instead; for their part, the Chechen separatists said that the older Umarov disappeared two years before and claimed that the presentation of the Chechen leader's brother was "a PR
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
stunt"). Umarov himself has previously called the amnesty as "a hopeless attempt by the Kremlin regime to shroud the real situation... in lies." On November 23, 2006, large numbers of Russian Defense Ministry and the FSB troops, without the participation of Chechen police, supported by helicopters and artillery barrages, were reported to have surrounded Umarov and his forces in a forest near the village of Yandi-Katar in the Achkhoy-Martanovsky District, on the internal border between Ingushetia and Chechnya. According to Kommersant
Kommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
sources, Umarov has been wounded in the operation but managed to escape the pursuit. He then spent the winter months travelling across the mountains to the nearby republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
to meet with local jamaat
Jamaat
The term Jamaat can apply to the following:*Jamia - a gathering or congregatation; place of gathering.*Jamaat-e-Islami - a South Asian Islamic movement based in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India .*Jamaat-ul-Muslimeen - a Muslim organization in Indo-Pak.*Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind - an Islamic group in...
s fighting Russian authorities in the region and consolidate the Caucasian Front
Caucasian Front (Chechen War)
The Caucasian Front also called Caucasus Front or the Caucasian Mujahadeen, was formally established in May 2005 as an Islamic structural unit of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria's armed forces by the decree of the separatist President of Chechnya Abdul-Halim Sadulayev during the Second Chechen...
, the pan-Caucasian Islamic militant network set up by the late President Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev. In April 2007, a group of fighters which might have been personally led by Umarov shot down a Russian troop transport helicopter
2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash
2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash crash happened on April 27, 2007, when a Russian military Mil Mi-8 helicopter carrying special forces and officers crashed in southern Chechen mountains, killing all 20 people aboard....
near Shatoy.
Leadership of the Caucasus Emirate
On October 7, 2007, Umarov had proclaimed Imarat Kavkaz (Caucasus EmirateCaucasus Emirate
The Caucasus Emirate also known as the Caucasian Emirate is a self-proclaimed virtual state entity, partially successor to the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and was officially announced on October 31, 2007 by former President of Ichkeria Dokka Umarov, who became the first Emir...
, aimed at uniting Northern Caucasus into a single Islamic state) and at once declared himself its Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
, thereby converting the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
into a vilayat (province) of the new emirate. The move to establish the Emirate was quickly condemned by Akhmed Zakayev, by then until recently Umarov's own minister of foreign affairs. Zakayev, living in exile in London, called upon all separatist fighters and politicians to pledge allegiance directly to the Chechen parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
in an attempt to isolate his former subordinate from power. Zakayev expressed regret that Umarov had caved in to pressure from "provocateurs
Provocation
Provocation and provoke may refer to:* Provocation , a type of legal defense in court which claims the "victim" provoked the accused's actions...
" and committed a "crime" that undermines the legitimacy of the ChRI. In a one-day period two former senior field commanders, Isa Munayev and Sultan Arsayev, issued statements publicly siding with Zakayev and distancing themselves from Umarov. However, all of the prominent active field commanders in Chechnya, with the sole exception of Amir Mansur (Arbi Evmirzayev, the leader of the Islamic Jamaat
Jamia
Jamia is the Arabic word for gathering . It can also refer to a mosque, or more generally, a community or association....
of Chechnya who was killed in 2010; also some small-time commanders such as Amir Khamza and Amir Surkho of Islamic Brigade of Chechnya and Staraya Sunzha Sabotage Group), had sided with Dokka Umarov on the decision.
Famous Radio Liberty journalist Andrei Babitsky
Andrei Babitsky
Andrei Babitsky is a Russian journalist and war reporter, who has worked for Radio Liberty since 1989, covering the 1991 August Coup, Civil War in Tajikistan and, most notably, both Chechen Wars from behind Chechen lines...
reported in November 2007 that Umarov had again travelled to the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria to rest and recuperate for the winter months. Babitsky said that Umarov was in a poor state of health after taking a shrapnel wound to his lower jaw (it is possible Umarov received the wound in 2006 when he broke out of a Russian encirclement on the Chechen/Ingush border) and after his leg was injured in a mine explosion. Pro-Moscow Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov offered him medical care if Umarov were to "beg for forgiveness". On May 9, 2009, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that Umarov has been reportedly severely wounded once again and four of his bodyguards have been killed in an operation commanded by Kadyrov's cousin and deputy Adam Delimkhanov
Adam Delimkhanov
Adam Sultanovich Delimkhanov is a Chechen politician who has been member of the Russian State Duma for the United Russia party since 2007....
(early rumors even claimed that Umarov had even been killed and in June the Russian authorities forensically examined the four burned corpses to see whether they included that of Umarov). All this was denied by the rebel sources; in next month Umarov himself phoned the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to say he's alive; and in an interview conducted in July 2009 with Prague Watchdog
Prague Watchdog
Prague Watchdog was an English, Czech and Russian-language Prague-based on-line service that collected and disseminated information on the crisis in Chechnya and reporting on the conflict in the North Caucasus, focusing on human rights, humanitarian situation, media access and coverage, and the...
Umarov maintained that the last time he was wounded was in 1995 during the First Chechen War. On January 19, 2010, Kadyrov announced that he had launched another Delimkhanov-led special operation in Chechnya’s mountains to find and eliminate Umarov.
On June 10, 2010, special presidential representative for the fight against international terrorism and organized crime, Anatoly Safonov, said that the detention or destruction of Doku Umarov is a matter for the near future.
On 16 June, 2010, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has also considered the capture of Doku Umarov's case of time. Kadyrov told that was intercepted by the flash card that Umarov has sent his representative in Ukraine. Words Umarov Kadyrov has translated this way: health on my last stage, no one helps me, I myself can not do anything, not controlling anything, no connection, and the only thing that remains for me now, mine and blow himself.
Alleged resignation
On 1 August 2010 Kavkaz Center said Umarov had officially announced his resignation for health reasons and appointed Aslambek VadalovAslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Ilimsultanovich Vadalov , also known by his nom de guerre Emir Aslambek, is a Chechen rebel leader fighting in the North Caucasus. He was appointed the supreme leader of the Caucasus Emirate on 1 August 2010, though this was later retracted....
as his successor. He appointed Vadalov saying "that jihad should be led by younger and more energetic commanders." Although he added that he would "continue to wage jihad and will do his utmost to help the new leadership. [Stepping down] does not mean that I give up jihad. I will do whatever I can by word and deed."
On 4 August, he contradicted the claim issued by him on video saying "Due to the situation in the Caucasus I consider that it is impossible for me to quit my duties. The previous declaration is annulled. It is a falsification. I declare that my health is good to serve Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
. And I will serve the word of Allah and work to kill the enemies of Allah in all the time that he gives me to live on this earth." He called the initial video a "fabrication," but did not say why there was a conflict.
Sharia support for leadership
In July 2011, a shariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
court ruled in favour of Umarov to close the rift caused by Umarov's reorganisation of the "armed forces" of Chechnya, the disbanding the so-called "eastern and south-western fronts" and dividing Chechnya into "military sectors." The court asked the rebels to re-swear allegiance to Umarov. Amir Khamzat, the commander of the Riyad-us-Saliheen Martyr Brigade or the organisation's suicide battalion who has been named the commander of the western sector. Hussein Gakayev
Hussein Gakayev
Khuseyn Vakhaevich Gakayev , also known as Emir Mansur and Emir Hussein, is a mujahid Emir fighting in Chechnya...
, who had been named to lead the eastern sector, Aslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Vadalov
Aslambek Ilimsultanovich Vadalov , also known by his nom de guerre Emir Aslambek, is a Chechen rebel leader fighting in the North Caucasus. He was appointed the supreme leader of the Caucasus Emirate on 1 August 2010, though this was later retracted....
and Tarkhan Gaziyev
Tarkhan Gaziyev
Tarkhan Ismailovich Gaziyev , also known as Emir Tarkhan, is a Chechen Mujahid Emir fighting in the North Caucasus.Held in great respect by fellow fighters for his courage, military skills and depth of faith, Gaziyev was named commander of the Southwest Front of the Armed Forces of the Chechen...
consequently followed suit and re-affirmed their allegiance to Umarov.
He then warned Russia that it would be the target of a new strenghtened insurgency as he promised a year of "blood and tears"http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=230940 as a result of the new unity.http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/umarov-promises-new-chapter-in-insurgency/441095.html
Religious beliefs and world view
"[B]arely religious until late in life", Umarov practices traditional Islam, as opposed to "WahhabisWahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
". There is no real record that indicates he has ever followed or is currently a follower of sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
. He has always described himself as a "traditionalist". Responding to Russian claims that he was an Islamic extremist, he described himself as a "traditionalist" and said: "Before the start of the first war in 1994, when the occupation began and I understood that war was inevitable, I came here as a patriot. I'm not even sure I knew how to pray properly then. It's ridiculous to say I'm a Wahhabist or a radical Muslim." Umarov denied that the Chechen separatism is linked to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
or any other international jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
ist groups, saying that the rebels' priority is liberty and independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
from Russia and peace for the Caucasus. However, in the same 2007 statement in which Umarov proclaimed the Caucasus Emirate, he expressed solidarity with "brothers in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
" and described "everyone who attacked Muslims" as common enemies of Muslims worldwide. His deputy Anzor Astemirov
Anzor Astemirov
Anzor Astemirov , also known as Emir Sayfullah , was an Islamist militant leader in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus....
soon retracted this statement, although saying they still held Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
to be an enemy. Prior to the declaration of his emirate, Umarov was commonly viewed as a staunch Chechen nationalist and had been expected by many observers to rather curb the pan-Islamist
Pan-Islamism
Pan-Islamism is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state — often a Caliphate. As a form of religious nationalism, Pan-Islamism differentiates itself from other pan-nationalistic ideologies, for example Pan-Arabism, by excluding culture and ethnicity as primary...
tendencies in the separatist movement.
In the video in which Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for the Domodedovo International Airport bombing
Domodedovo International Airport bombing
The 2011 Domodedovo Airport bombing was a suicide attack in the international arrival hall of Moscow's busiest airport, Domodedovo Airport, on January 24, 2011....
, calling the major powers in the world "Satanic" he criticized the US and Russia for being hyprocrites, in that if they actually followed their own principles, they would have to surrender world power to China, due to the senior status of Chinese culture and religion. He said, according to the logic of Russia and America, "China should then rule the world. They have the largest and most ancient cultures". He also attacked the USA, Russia, Britain, and Israel for oppressing Muslims.
Involvement in terrorism
Although Umarov announced an end to violence against civilians in 2006, in 2009 he has stated that he does not believe there are any civilians in Russia, but also that civilian casualties would be limited as much as possible. Umarov has personally taken responsibility for terrorist attacks in which dozens of civilians have been killed, and has been implicated in others. He is currently federally wanted in Russia for alleged crimes including acts of terrorism. During the September 2004 Beslan school hostage crisisBeslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
Umarov had been incorrectly identified by Russian security forces and some hostages as an in-site leader of the hostage takers, a claim which was later officially refuted; Umarov himself condemned the act and distanced himself from terrorism.
In March 2008, Chechnya's chief prosecutor, Valery Kuznetsov, launched a criminal case against Umarov for "inciting inter-ethnic hatred
Ethnic hatred
Ethnic hatred, inter-ethnic hatred, racial hatred, or ethnic tension refers to feelings and acts of prejudice and hostility towards an ethnic group in various degrees. See list of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms for specific cases....
and calling for the overthrow of the Russian government on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
" (the penalty for this is only a fine of up to 500,000 ruble
Ruble
The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are...
s and a ban on holding management positions); according to Kommersant, Umarov was earlier on Russia's wanted list, but all the previous and much more serious charges against him were suspended in 2005 (the paper also noted that Zakayev-led ChRI government in exile
Government in exile
A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
is investigating Umarov for "attempting to liquidate the independent Chechen state" by declaring the creation of a Caucasus Emirate).
On several occasions, Umarov firmly denied any involvement in indiscriminate terrorism and questioned its legitimacy and value. In a June 2005 interview with Andrei Babitsky, he criticized Basayev for ordering the Beslan raid, saying that most of the Chechen resistance does not consider the Beslan hostage taking was a legitimate response to Russian actions in Chechnya ("if we resort to such methods, I do not think any of us will be able to retain his human face").
Umarov's controversial appointment of Basayev to the post of prime minister in 2006 was precedeed by a public statement rejecting terrorism against civilians as a tactic. In another statement in 2004 Umarov wrote: "Our targets are the Russian occupation forces, their military bases, command headquarters and also their local collaborationists who pursue and kill peaceful Muslims. Civil objects and innocent civilians are not our targets."
However, in early 2009 he has been by his own admission personally involved in the re-activation of notorious Riyadus-Salikhin suicide formation
Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs
Riyad-us Saliheen is the name of a small "martyr" force of Islamic suicide attackers. Its original leader was the Chechen separatist commander Shamil Basayev...
, first set-up and led by Basayev between 1999 and 2004; in the next months a string of suicide attacks killed dozens of people (mostly police officers) and critically injured the Ingush president Yunus-bek Yevkurov
Yunus-bek Yevkurov
Yunus-bek Bamatgireyevich Yevkurov is the current president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev on 30 October 2008...
, raising fears of a new campaign of terror directed against Russian civilians. In a July 2009 interview with Prague Watchdog
Prague Watchdog
Prague Watchdog was an English, Czech and Russian-language Prague-based on-line service that collected and disseminated information on the crisis in Chechnya and reporting on the conflict in the North Caucasus, focusing on human rights, humanitarian situation, media access and coverage, and the...
, when asked if people should expect a repetition of events like the Beslan and Moscow
Moscow theater hostage crisis
The Moscow theater hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002 by some 40 to 50 armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the...
hostage crises, Umarov responded: "If that is the will of Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
. Shamil [Basayev] did not have the opportunities I have right now. (...) As far as possible we will try to avoid civilian targets, but for me there are no civilians in Russia. Why? Because a genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of our people is being carried out with their tacit consent."
In December, the Caucasus Emirate (via Kavkaz Center) took responsibility for the derailment of Nevsky Express
2009 Nevsky Express bombing
The 2009 Nevsky Express bombing occurred on 27 November 2009 when a bomb exploded under a high speed train travelling between the Russian cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg causing derailment near the town of Bologoye, Tver Oblast , on the Moscow–Saint Petersburg Railway. The derailment occurred...
, an "act of sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
" which claimed the lives of 27 people (including two civilian government officials and also many other travellers), reportedly conducted on the orders of Umarov. The Caucaus Emirate was officially labeled by Russia as a terrorist organization in January 2010. The same month, in a statement about the upcoming "military actions", Umarov said the re-created Riyad-us-Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs
Shahid
Shahid is an Arabic word meaning "witness". It is a religious term in Islam, meaning both "witness" and "martyr." While a martyr may die as a consequence of fighting, a shahid is a "witness" because he gives his life out of passion for truth. The shahid exchanges himself for the divine and thereby...
will now operate in the Russian cities outside the Caucasus and "the war will come to their [Russians'] homes", possibly indicating the new wave of terrorist bombings such as those conducted by the group in Moscow and elsewhere in 2002–2004 under Basayev's orders.
On March 31, 2010 Umarov claimed responsibility for personally ordering the Moscow Metro bombings
2010 Moscow Metro bombings
The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two womenduring the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro , with roughly 40 minutes interval between...
which took the lives of 40 civilians and injured over 60. He also warned that more attacks were to come on Russian soil because of perceived repressions of Chechnya by Prime Minister Putin.
On February 7, 2011 Umarov claimed responsibility in a video posted online for ordering a suicide bombing at Domodedovo International Airport
Domodedovo International Airport
Moscow Domodedovo Airport or Domodedovo International Airport is an international airport located in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia, south-southeast of the centre of Moscow...
, Russia's busiest airport. The bombing killed 36 people, and was described by Umarov as a "special operation," targeting both the Russian people and prime minister Vladimir Putin.
Legal status
Doku Umarov is wanted by RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for terrorists acts. The United States has offered $5 million for information leading to his capture. Since 10 March 2011, Umarov has also been on the United Nations Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee list of individuals associated with Al-Qaida.
External links
- Profile: Doku Umarov, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
- Doku Umarov (Russian rebel leader), Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
Умаров, Доку: Президент самопровозглашенной республики Ичкерия, Lenta.ruLenta.RuLenta.Ru is a Moscow-based news website in Russian language, owned by Rambler Media Group which belongs to Prof-Media. It is considered one of the most popular Russian language online resources with over 600 thousand visitors daily....