KADYROV MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF HIS FATHER’S ASSASSINATION

Ramzan Kadyrov has repeated his claim that the assassination of his father was financed from abroad. “Yes, I believe this terrorist act was paid for from abroad, those who carried out the attack have already been punished, and the same fate awaits those who ordered it,” he told Itar-Tass on May 9, the second anniversary of the bombing during a Victory Day parade at Grozny’s Dinamo Stadium that killed then-Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov. “Having killed the president, the bandits were counting on rolling back the incipient process of peaceful reconstruction and once again plunging the republic into the chaos of war. Their logic is clear. Having lost their popularly elected leader, the organizers of the terrorist act thought the Chechen people would take fright, fall into a state of panic and leave the bandits to continue to profit from the blood and sufferings of civilians. But the bandits miscalculated: the people didn’t take fright, they didn’t panic.” Kadyrov has previously alleged that his father’s assassination was financed by Akhmed Zakaev, the London-based separatist emissary (see Chechnya Weekly, February 23).

Kadyrov also vowed that “the enemy of the Chechen people Shamil Basaev will be eliminated” regardless of whether or not he was involved in the death of the elder Kadyrov. Commenting on the current situation in Chechnya, Kadyrov insisted that the republic “is the most peaceful region in Russia, and within 10 years it will be the most beautiful,” Itar-Tass reported. “Today the scattered remnants of the bandit gangs have no real power and they cannot change the situation in the region,” he told the news agency. “Also, they don’t enjoy the support of local people. People are tired of the war and disorder which has reigned here for many years.” Kadyrov claimed that the Chechen people “endorse the efforts of the government aimed at restoring the republic as soon as possible.”

Kadyrov made his comments as relatives, friends and members of his team gathered in his native village of Tsentoroi to honor his father’s memory. Meanwhile, RIA Novosti reported on May 10 that a fourth grade student at a Grozny school had been awarded an apartment and $10,000 for writing a poem in memory of the elder Kadyrov. Kheda Isnaurova recited her poem, written in the Chechen language, at a rally held in honor of Akhmad Kadyrov on May 8 at the Kadyrov memorial in central Grozny that was attended by Chechen President Alu Alkhanov, senior MPs and government officials. The award was given by the regional Akhmad Kadyrov Foundation.