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Kadyrov Vows To Wipe Out Islamic Militants


Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov
Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov
In an interview with the TV station Vesti-24 on June 23, one day after the assassination attempt on Ingushetian President Yunusbek Yevkurov, Ramzan Kadyrov vowed -- again -- to intensify the combined efforts of Chechen and Ingushetian Interior Ministry forces to wipe out "terrorists."

Moscow-backed Chechen leader Kadyrov believes those "terrorists" receive funding from abroad to undermine the entire Russian Federation by fuelling violence in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Daghestan, and Ingushetia.

He failed, however, to produce any evidence to support his claim.

Chechnya's increasingly megalomaniac leader warned that he plans to "restore order not just in Russia but in neighboring states" if President Medvedev issues the relevant order to do so.

It was not immediately clear to which neighboring states Kadyrov was referring. But allusions to Abkhazia and South Ossetia alongside the republics of Russia's North Caucasus appear to suggest that the Chechen Republic head was issuing a threat to Georgia.

Kadyrov spoke to Vesti-24 immediately after a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

In a truly bizarre twist, Medvedev tasked the Chechen leader with taking control of the anti-insurgency operation not only in Chechnya but also in Ingushetia. Things must be getting really desperate.

-- Aslan Doukaev

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Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us at transmission+rferl.org

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