On the subject of foreign fighters in Chechnya, I should have added that, if memory serves, both the Kremlin and the various rebel sources put the number of foreigners in Chechnya at any given time at about 200. So, it's not a lot (given that there are supposedly about 1,500 full-time fighters). But they serve a major ideological and financial role.
There is really no group of "rebels" in Chechnya. Chechnya has been in a state of civil war since 1996. You have the nationalists around Maskhadov; then you have the Wahabbis around Basayev; and then simple bandit gangs making money of carnage. (And the three groups interpenetrate.) Finally, you have the so-called Kadyrovtsy, the pro-Moscow security force, composed mostly of former rebels who switched sides, supposedly about 3,000 men. Most of the fighting in Chechnya is between the Kadyrovtsy and the rebels; I have heard that the Chechen Special Forces have declared blood feud on the Basayev clan, and they want the Russian Army to leave so that they can take care of business in their own way, if you get what I mean. The relations between all these groups are very obscure. During de facto independence, there were pitched battles between Maskhadov's men and the Wahabbis. Nevertheless, until the Dubrovka theater hostage-taking, they claimed to be on the same side (Maskhadov condemned the act, while Basayev took credit for it and resigned his official post). When Kadyrov was assassinated, Maskhadov condemned it (it took place, BTW, after a period in which Kadyrov and Maskhadov were allegedly negotiating the latter's surrender). The next day, Basayev took credit for it, and said "I only regret that I do not have Kadyrov's head to give to Maskhadov." Then there is the alternative theory that Maskhadov and Basayev are actually working together, with Basayev carrying out terrorist acts, Maskhadov doing PR in the West while maintaining a state of plausible deniability, and the now-deceased Yandarbiyev doing PR in the Muslim world. Frankly, I don't think Maskhadov has much backing him up at this point beyong his own teip (clan). His men, I think, have mostly either joined the Kadyrovtsy or been radicalized and are now with Basayev. Maskhadov may not even be in Chechnya. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
