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Mystery Surrounds Khattab’s Death
MOSCOW,
April 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Mystery still surrounds
the fate of Chechen leader Khattab who is the number two Chechen
fighter, despite the video tape broadcast by a Russian television
channel in which the Chechen leader’s body was shown.
Voice
of Qoqaz website, which is affiliated to the Chechen fighters,
published a statement on Saturday, April 27, saying that Khattab died
of poison.
The
site issued a statement which announced the death of the fighter who
fought against Russian forces for 15 years. “The leader Khattab was
not killed in the battlefield in confrontation with the enemy, but
with the weapon of traitors and hypocrites who managed to slip poison
in his food,” the statement said.
However,
Qoqaz Center News Agency, also affiliated to the Chechen fighters,
published a statement on its site denying the news, after the tape was
broadcast.
A
source close to separatist leader Aslan Maskhadof told the agency that
Maskhadof met Khattab on April 12 and 13 in a base in the south, while
Russian intelligence says that the video dates back to March 19 and
20.
The
agency also said that there was no official statement issued by the
fighters, despite the fact that the fighters who appeared in the tape
are actually Khattab’s guards.
A
spokesman for Maskhadof told Agence France Presse (AFP) that
he is unable to comment and that the press office for the former
Chechen leader did not have contact with Khattab for a long time.
From
his side, Ahmad Kadrof, the head of the Chechen administration which
is in alliance with Moscow, said Saturday that he is not ready to
believe the news of Khattab’s death as long as he hasn’t seen the
body with his own eyes.
He
said that pretending to be dead is an old trick used by Khattab
himself in the past and was also used by other separatists Chechen
leaders such as Salman Radweif and Shamel Basaeev to trick Russian
security.
He
did admit, however, that the person who appeared in the video greatly
resembled Khattab.
Russian
television RTR aired a video on Friday which showed the body of a
bearded person and said that it was Khattab, who the Russian
intelligence say they killed last March.
Meanwhile,
Russian military sources said that Khattab’s post is now occupied by
one of his close associates called Abu Al Waleed. Abu Al Waleed was
handling the job of treasurer for the fighters and was distributing
incoming money from abroad.
The
sources said that Russian soldiers were spying on the fighter’s
communications and noticed that he was performing duties formerly
carried out by Khattab.
Russian
president Vladimir Putin seemed cautious about commenting on
Khattab’s death and said that he was awaiting confirmation of the
news.
RTR
said that Khattab did not take part in any battles since six months
and was hiding in mountains and caves. He has not carried out any
telecommunication contacts with other fighters and has limited himself
to sending letters.
Khattab,
said to be around 40, has been forever shrouded in mystery, an enigma
that began with his name and origins. His real name is said by some to
be Omar bin Al Khattab, while Russian newspapers say he was born Habib
Abder-Rahman, and is of Jordanian or Saudi origin.
With
additional reporting by Dameer Ahmad
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