Rasul Makasharipov

Infobox Military Person
name=Rasul Makasharipov
( _ru. Расул Макашарипов)
lived=1972 - 2005
placeofbirth=Tsumadinsky district, Dagestan
placeofdeath=Makhachkala, Dagestan


caption=
nickname=Muslim
allegiance= Shariat Jamaat
Caucasian Front
battles=Second Chechen War

Rasul Makasharipov ( _ru. Расул Макашарипов) (1972 - July 6, 2005) nicknamed Muslim and also known as Emir Rasul was a Dagestani rebel leader in Dagestan. He was the founder of the Dzhennet group (Arabic: "Paradise") and later created the pro-Chechen Shariat Jamaat, which sought to unite Caucasian Muslims under Islamic rule and later became part of the Caucasian Front.

Biography

Rasul Makasharipov was a native of Dagestan's Tsumadinsky district in South-West Dagestan bordering Chechnya, inhabitated by Avars. In 1997, his father expelled him from the house, and he moved to Chechnya. He became an Avar interpreter of Arab field commander Khattab and warlord Shamil Basayev during the Invasion of Dagestan. He surrendered to Dagestani authorities in 2000, but was released in an amnesty a year later.

Within a year he was assembling his own organization, finding willing recruits from young Dagestanis who had suffered at the hands of the police. According to one of his followers, “Makasharipov spoke about the necessity to stop persecution and humiliation of Muslims in Dagestan. He said this could be done by killing policemen.” ("The Moscow Times", March 15, 2005). The organisation became known as the Dzhennet group which in Dagestan, since 2002, had been killing dozens of high-ranking police officials, investigators and prosecutorsin in the course of the Second Chechen War. [ [http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/755035.html Shariat organization succeeds to Dzhennet rebel group] , Memorial, 14/1/2005] [http://www.jamestown.org/docs/McGregor-14Sep06.pdf]

He replaced the Dzhennet group with the Shariat Jamaat, which in May 2005 became part of the Caucasian Front established by then president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Abdul-Halim Sadulayev after the death of Aslan Maskhadov. The FSB falsely reported the death of Makasharipov in a tank attack on a home in Makhachkala, January 15, 2005, but Makasharipov surfaced four days later to refute these claims.

Makasharipov was killed during a shootout with Russian troops on July 6, 2005. [http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3401 SHARIA JAMAAT CONFIRMS DEATH OF ITS "EMIR"] , The Jamestown Foundation, July 14, 2005] Rappani Khalilov became his military succesor.

References