Salman Raduyev

Infobox Military Person
name=Salman Raduyev
( _ru. Салма́н Раду́ев)
lived=1967 - 2002
placeofbirth=Novogroznensky, Chechnya
placeofdeath=Solikamsk, Russia


caption=
nickname=Lone Wolf ("nom de guerre")
Michael Jackson, Titanic (nicknames)
allegiance=ChRI armed forces (1992-1997)
General Dudayev's Army (1997-2000)
serviceyears=
rank=Brigadier General (1995-1997)
unit=6th Brigade (Gudermessky District)
battles=Nagorno-Karabakh War
First Chechen War (Kizlyar raid)
Second Chechen War
awards=
laterwork=

Salman Raduyev (or Raduev; _ru. Салма́н Раду́ев; February 13, 1967 – December 14, 2002) was a Chechen separatist warlord and terrorist, [cite book |title= Voices Of Terror: Manifestos, Writings, and Manuals of Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Other Terrorists from Around the World and Throughout the Ages|last=Laqueur |first= Walter |authorlink= Walter Laqueur|year= 2004|publisher= Reed Press|isbn= 1594290350|pages= 492] [cite book |title= The Republics and Regions of the Russian Federation: A Guide to Politics|last= Orttung|first= Robert W.|coauthors= Danielle N. Lussier, Anna Paretskaya|year= 2000|publisher= M.E. Sharpe|isbn= 0765605597|pages= 630] [NTI, [http://www.nti.org/e_research/cnwm/threat/russia.asp Securing the Bomb. Russia] ] [cite book |title= Putin's Russia: Life In A Failing Democracy|last= Politkovskaya|first= Anna|authorlink= Anna Politkovskaya|year= 2005|publisher= Metropolitan Books|isbn= 0805079300|pages= 26] widely considered to be one of the most radical and notorious Chechen rebel commanders of the period between 1994 and 1999. Arrested in 2000, he died in a Russian penal colony in mysterious circumstances.

Early life

Raduyev was born in 1967 into the Gordaloy teip (clan) in Novogroznensky near Gudermes in eastern Chechnya. During the early 1980s Raduyev was active in the "Komsomol" (Young Communist League) of which he eventually became a leader for the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. After attending high school in Gudermes, Raduyev served 1985-1987 in the Red Army as a construction engineer in the Strategic Rocket Forces unit stationed in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, where he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After demobilization, he studied economy and worked in Soviet construction industry.

After Chechnya declared independence, he was appointed the prefect of Gudermes in June 1992 by his father-in-law, Dzhokhar Dudayev, who was the President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He also married the daughter of Dudayev's cousin.

Field commander

During the First Chechen War Raduyev became a field commander for the separatist Chechen forces, then nicknamed "Lone Wolf". He fought in the battle of Grozny and was wounded in March 1995 during an attempt to capture him by the Russian special forces. In October 1995, he became was one of the most important of the Chechen field commanders, commanding the 6th Brigade based in the strategically important Gudermessky District and responsible for the Gudermessky, part of the capital Grozny and the town of Argun. On December 14, 1995, Raduyev, along with Sultan Geliskhanov, led the raid on the city of Gudermes.

On January 9, 1996, Raduyev (allegedly copying Shamil Basayev's 1995 Budyonnovsk attack) led a large-scale Kizlyar hostage taking raid into neighbouring Russian region of Dagestan, where his men took at least 2,000 civilian hostages. The raid, which made Raduyev world-famous, escalated into the all-out battle and ended with the complete destruction of the border village of Pervomayskoye, and other Chechen leaders criticised Raduyev. [ [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9601/chechen_rebels/01-24/index.html Chechen rebels survive, prolong hostage crisis] , CNN, January 24, 1996] In March 1996, he was shot in the head and incorrectly reported dead. [ [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9603/raduyev_dead/index.html Chechen rebel leader killed, reports say] , CNN, March 6, 1996] (Russian special forces claimed to have killed him in revenge for the Kizlyar attack, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021216/ai_n12662547 Obituary: Salman Raduyev] , "The Independent", Dec 16, 2002] while the other sources said he was shot in a Chechen feud.) In fact, Raduyev just disappeared as he went for medical treatment abroad.

Warlord

In the summer of 1996, Raduyev returned to the republic and refused the orders of the Chechnya's Acting President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev to stop carrying out terrorist operations (he claimed ordering bombings of trolleybuses in Moscow [ [http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/1996/07/19/002.html Raduyev Resurfaces To Claim Bus Blasts] , "The Moscow Times", July 19, 1996] and train stations Armavir and Pyatigorsk), despite the ceasefire and talks that would lead up to the Khasav-Yurt Accord. He even accused Yandarbiyev of treason for agreeing to ceasfire and threatened to attack him. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960719/ai_n14058444 Chechen rebel back from dead to wage holy war] , "The Independent", Jul 19, 1996 ] Raduyev, his face deformed by injury and now hidden behind bushy red beard and black sunglasses, was the only field commander to announce openly that the "war without rules" with Russia would continue even despite the signing of a peace agreement.

In 1997, the newly elected Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov reduced Raduyev from the rank of brigadier general to private. However, further action was blocked by a public opposition from a Raduyev-led war veterans, including a prelonged rally in Grozny, which ended in a shootout resulting in the deaths of the commander of Raduyev's forces Vakha Dzhafarov and the Chechen security forces director Lechi Khultygov. [ [http://www.amina.com/article/ser_sky.html A serene sky over Ichkeria] , Chechen Republic Online] Meanwhile, Raduyev kept claiming responsibility for every explosion in Russia, including gas leaks. He claimed that Dudayev, who died in 1996, was still alive, and now issuing orders to him from "a secret NATO base in Turkey" with the goal of the "liberation" of entire North Caucasus. Raduyev's eccentric behaviour was not widely popular in Chechnya. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?2755 Maskhadov under attack] , NUPI, 30.09.1998] Many openly doubted his sanity; [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000314/ai_n14296774 Russians seize warlord for show trial on TV] "The Independent", Mar 14, 2000 ] in the newspaper interview in 1997, Maskhadov described Raduyev as "mentally ill" (even Basayev, Raduyev's ally in the opposition against Maskhadov, [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?2949 Chechen opposition demands Maskhadov's suspension] NUPI, 26.10.1998] reportedly called him "crazy"). In October 1997, Raduyev was again heavily wounded by a car bomb which killed three other people. Previously, he survived at least two other assassination attempts, in April and in July of 1997.

In May 1998, the Chechnya's Islamic court sentenced Raduyev in absence to four years in prison for allegedly attempting to overthrow Maskhadov, [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?3168 Chechen Islamic court sentences Raduyev] , NUPI, 05.11.1998] but made no attempt to arrest him. In September 1998, Raduyev announced a "temporary moratorium" on acts of terrorism. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?2691 Situation in Dagestan remains tense] , NUPI, 16.09.1998 ] As a sign of his good gesture towards Russia, Raduyev claimed that it was he who freed the nine kidnapped Russian servicemen from their captors. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?2870 War clouds Chechnya's horizon] , NUPI, 15.10.1998 ] He also became conflicted with the Islamist circles and called to ban "Wahhabism" in Chechnya. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?1536 Raduev calls for ban on "Wahhabism."] , NUPI, 06.01.1998] In January of 1999, he backed the republic's parliament in its conflict with the Sharia Court. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?3818 Field commanders back parliament against Sharia Court] , NUPI, 08.01.1999 ] His private militia, some 1,000-strong and called General Dudayev's Army, was reportedly involved in several train robberies. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/675631.stm Chechen warlord captured] , BBC News, 16 March, 2000]

In early 1999, Raduyev vanished from public again to underwent a major plastic surgery in Germany, in effect acquiring a new face. The alleged implants of titanium earned him the nickname of "Titanic" in Russia, while in Chechnya he became popularly known as "Michael Jackson". [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881347.html Paradise lost] , "Haaretz", 15/07/2007] Still seriously ill and recovering from surgery, Raduyev had vowed "reprisals" against Russia for the March 1999 sentencing of two Chechen women. [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?3996 Senior Russian interior ministry official abducted in Grozniy] , NUPI, 08.03.1999] In September 1999, at the start of the Second Chechen War, Raduyev organized a rally in Grozny attended by 12,000 people where he urged residents to stay home and prepare to defend the city. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/1999/09/990929-chech30.htm RUSSIA/CHECHNYA] , Voice of America, 29-Sep-1999] His group was reported to be virtually destroyed in a series of serious setbacks during the early fighting in the late 1999. He stopped talking about new terrorist attacks that he was going to organize. [http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/14973_raduyev.html Salman Raduyev, “terrorist number 2,” was renowned as a “talking head” in the terrorist environment] , "Pravda", 16.02.2005]

Arrest and trial

Raduyev was captured in March 2000 by Russian special operations unit "Vympel" in his home in Novogroznensky; soon after his arrest he was shown on television clean shaven, after Russian guards had forcefully shaven his beard. The Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Raduyev had confessed to trying to assassinate Eduard Shevardnadze, the President of Georgia. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/russia-claim-capture-of-chechen-warlord-722231.html Russia claim capture of Chechen warlord] "The Independent", 13 March 2000]

Raduyev was tried on 18 different charges (including terrorism, banditry, hostage-taking, organization of murders and organization of illegal armed formations). He pleaded not guilty, [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-48322177.html Raduyev Testifies in Court, Pleads Not Guilty] , "The Moscow Times", November 19, 2001] maintained he was only following orders, [ [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2000/03/18/006.html Raduyev Maintains He Was Only Obeying Orders] , "The Moscow Times", March 18, 2000] claimed to suffer from no mental disorders whatsoever and said he hopes to be released from prison in some 10-12 years. [ [http://www.gazeta.ru/2001/11/13/CapturedRebe.shtml Captured Rebel Leader Raduyev Hopes for 10 Years] Gazeta.ru, 2001/11/13] Dozens of witnesses were called to testify, but many of the alleged victims of his actions had refused to participate. [http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/11/15/chechnya.court/index.html Rebel Chechen leader on trial] CNN, November 15, 2001] In December 2001, he was sentenced to life in prison. [ [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/12/28/013.html Raduyev Gets Life Term for Terrorism and Murder] , The Associated Press, December 28, 2001] His appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in April 2002.

Death

In December 2002, Raduyev died in the "White Swan" penal colony in Solikamsk from internal bleeding. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2577065.stm Chechen warlord dies in jail] , BBC News, 15 December, 2002] The Russian authorities said he was not beaten to death, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2579241.stm Russia says Chechen was not beaten] , BBC News, 16 December, 2002] but died due to a "serious and protracted diseases". Raduyev's body was not returned to his family because of a newly-introduced Russian law barring the release of bodies of people convicted (or accused) of terrorism.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Raduyev are not clear and according to his family and the separatists he was murdered in prison after he refused to speak with the accusations against Akhmed Zakayev, then arrested in Denmark. [ [http://kavkazcenter.net/eng/content/2002/12/16/673.shtml Russians attempt to conceal Raduyev's murder] , Kavkaz Center, 16 December 2002] "Kommersant" daily said that "the real reason for Raduev's death will probably never be known," while "Vremya Novostei" suggested that, after being forced to give all the information requested from him, he was therefore "no longer needed" by the Russian authorities and killed. [ [http://www.rferl.org/features/2002/12/16122002174057.asp Russia: Relatives, Chechen Leaders Question Official Version Of Raduev's Death] RFE/RL, December 16, 2002] Amnesty International has called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death [ [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engEUR460702002!Open Russian Federation: Amnesty International calls for an independent investigation into Chechen fighter's death] , Amnesty International, 16 December 2002] but the request was ignored and his body not exhumed. [http://en.rian.ru/onlinenews/20050217/39702365.html RADUYEV'S BODY NOT TO BE EXHUMED] , RIA Novosti, 17/ 02/ 2005]

Salman Raduyev was survived by his wife and two sons – Dzhokhar and Salman, living abroad.

References

External links

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021216/ai_n12662547 Obituary: Salman Raduyev] , "The Independent", Dec 16, 2002
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article802802.ece Salman Raduyev - Chechen whose separatist aims landed him in a Russian prison] , "The Times", December 17, 2002
*pl icon [http://szatoj.blog.onet.pl/2,ID224640198,index.html Komendanci polowi: Salman Radujew]