This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Everyking (talk | contribs) at 02:52, 15 February 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 02:52, 15 February 2004 by Everyking (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Zelimkhan Yanderbiyev or Yandarbiyev (1951 - February 13, 2004) was an acting president of the breakaway Republic of Chechnya (1996 - 1997).
Originally a literary scholar, he served as vice-president of the republic from 1991 and became president in April 1996, following the assassination by Russia of his predecessor Dzhokhar Dudaev. In late May 1996, he headed a Chechen delegation that met Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin for peace talks that resulted in the signature of a ceasefire agreement on May 27. He stood in elections held in Chechnya in February 1997 but was defeated by Aslan Maskhadov, a senior military leader. The two men fell out badly the following year when Yanderbiyev was accused of being behind an assassination attempt against Maskhadov. In September 1998, Maskhadov publicly denounced Yanderbiyev, accusing him of importing the hardline Islamic philosophy of Wahhabism and of being responsible for "anti-state activities" including anti-government speeches and public meetings, as well as the organisation of illegal armed groups. Yanderbiyev subsequently joined forces with the hardline Islamist opposition to Maskhadov's rule.
Yanderbiyev was seen as a key figure behind the 1999 attack by Chechen rebels on the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan. Following the resumption of the Chechen war in late 1999, Yanderbiyev travelled abroad to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates and eventually settled in Qatar in 2001, where he sought to obtain Muslim support for the Chechen cause. This became a cause of considerable friction between Russia and Qatar, which refused to extradite Yanderbiyev despite an Interpol arrest warrant issued in 2001. He was mentioned on a United Nations list of groups and people with suspected links to the al-Qaeda organisation and is said to have had contacts with the Taleban movement in Afghanistan. He was believed to have been a key figure in the international network of Chechen rebel fundraisers in the Islamic world. He was also accused of involvement in the October 2002 seizure by Chechen rebels of a theatre in Moscow, in which around 120 hostages and guerrillas were killed.
On February 13, 2004, Yanderbiyev was killed in an apparent car bomb explosion in the Qatari capital, Doha. Two of his bodyguards were reportedly killed as well and his son was said to have been seriously injured. It was unclear who was responsible for the blast, but suspicion fell on Russia's intelligence services (who denied any involvement) and internal feuding among the Chechen rebel leadership.