Nexus - 1304 - New Times Magazine-pages

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clearly in the camp of Yeltsin's opponents". More recently, and join the terrorist group of the Jordanian Abu Musab al- Surikov has also shown himself to be anti-Putin, criticising Putin's Zarqawi that belongs to the al-Qaida network. “obvious inability...to struggle against terrorism effectively". Trying to prevent this, and, besides, wanting to discredit Furthermore, Surikov clearly had Western support in his Kadyrov in the eyes of Prince Naif, the CIA gave Saidov an opposition to government corruption under Yeltsin. The Centre "assignment". On April 13 in the Nozhai-Yurt district of for Defence Studies, a British think-tank at King's College, Chechnya, Russian troops killed Abu al-Walid (or alleged having London, published two small books by Surikov, including one done so). Saidov paid $300,000 to those who carried out this entitled Crime in Russia: the international implications .° operation. Their bosses in Moscow received $500,000. How According to his web page at the Moscow Institute of much the CIA paid Saidov is unknown... Globalization Studies (IPROG) website, Surikov spent the year 1994 at the Centre for Defence Studies. Audrius Butkevicius is Yasenev describes Saidov as both a drug trafficker and an arms said to have spent the year there as well. trafficker, involved with the supply of Russian arms to the Saudi- As for Yasenev's allegation that "Surikov has contacts with backed secessionists in Yemen. He adds that: Fritz Ermarth", Surikov when questioned about this admitted it In the spring of 1995 Saidov began to cooperate with the frankly: "I am personally acquainted with Mr Ermarth as political organized society, led by Vladimir Filin and Alexei Likhvintsev, in scientist since 1996. It's well known by many people and we handling [narcotics] traffic through the port of Novorossiysk. never hid this fact."”’ In saying this, Surikov was admitting to a CIA connection: Yasenev also describes Saidov as having good relations not Ermarth, a senior officer who twice served on the National only with the CIA but also with Turkish Islamists and even with Security Council, did not retire from the CIA until 1998. The two Ayman al-Zawahiri, the man often described as both the men had met in April 1996 at a Global International Security "mastermind" behind 9/11 and the senior partner in al-Qaeda with Seminar in Virginia.* the younger bin Laden.” Above all, Kagarlitsky is silent In addition, Yasenev made it clear about the charge which has since that Saidov was not pro-Putin but a aroused controversy in the Russian Muslim activist who was media: Surikov's supposed . passionately anti-Putin and, indeed, involvement with "a group of Yasenev made it clear that anti-Russian: renegade Soviet secret service Saidov was not pro-Putin In September 2003, Saidov officers who are allegedly involved . 1 participated in the congress of the in international drug trafficking and but a Muslim activist who was extremist organization Hizb ut- hve dew xn and Sout | passionately anticPutin and, fs. n don It would be interesting to learn at indeed, anti-Russian. Tahrir al-Islami_ was an what point Kagarlitsky first met Surikov, and whether Surikov was in fact the source for Kagarlitsky's article about the meeting in southern France. Today the two men are close, organization effectively acting in the underground throughout Russia, Central Asia and the Crimea..." On December 8, 2004, Saidov addressed Muslim youth in Moscow. and serve together at IPROG.” In his words, "following Ukraine, the Orange Revolution is coming to Russia". "Our liberals say that in 2008 the situation in Saidov, Surikov, Muslim Insurrectionism and Drug Moscow will be like the one in Kiev. However, everything will be Trafficking different, and not in 2008 but earlier. Amirs and mudjahideen The most conspicuous clue to Dunlop's selectivity in his use of will soon make the Kremlin shudder with horror." In 2005, "they the Yasenev memo is his failure to identify "Mekhmet", the will throw into hell the servant of Satan", i.e., President Putin, "certain Turk, in the past an advisor to the Islamicist premier of — who is allegedly "wanted by the International Tribunal at The Turkey, [Necmettin] Erbakan".*! Yasenev identifies Mekhmet, Hague". him nat ante ta Deholan hut a tha CTA ta Car and join the terrorist group of the Jordanian Abu Musab al- Zarqawi that belongs to the al-Qaida network. Trying to prevent this, and, besides, wanting to discredit Kadyrov in the eyes of Prince Naif, the CIA gave Saidov an "assignment". On April 13 in the Nozhai-Yurt district of Chechnya, Russian troops killed Abu al-Walid (or alleged having done so). Saidov paid $300,000 to those who carried out this operation. Their bosses in Moscow received $500,000. How much the CIA paid Saidov is unknown... Yasenev describes Saidov as both a drug trafficker and an arms trafficker, involved with the supply of Russian arms to the Saudi- backed secessionists in Yemen. He adds that: In the spring of 1995 Saidov began to cooperate with the organized society, led by Vladimir Filin and Alexei Likhvintsev, in handling [narcotics] traffic through the port of Novorossiysk. Saidov was not pro-Putin but a Muslim activist who was passionately anti-Putin and, indeed, anti-Russian. Saidov, Surikov, Muslim Insurrectionism and Drug Trafficking The most conspicuous clue to Dunlop's selectivity in his use of the Yasenev memo is his failure to identify "Mekhmet", the "certain Turk, in the past an advisor to the Islamicist premier of Turkey, [Necmettin] Erbakan".*' Yasenev identifies Mekhmet, linking him not only to Erbakan but also to the CIA, to Saudi intelligence and to al-Qaeda: In 2003 the Turkish citizen Mehmet, whose real name is Ruslan Saidov, persuaded the President of the Chechen Republic, Ahmed Kadyrov, that he could be of use with Kadyrov's policy of "national reconciliation". Saidov took part in organizing Kadyrov's visit to Saudi Arabia. There Kadyrov made an agreement with the head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Naif Ibn Abdel-Aziz, that the Arab militants under the Lieutenant Colonel Aziz ben Said ben Ali al-Hamdi (alias Abu al-Walid al-Hamadi), Prince Naif's subordinate, would be removed from Chechnya by May 2004. The agreement stipulated that Kadyrov guaranteed safe passage to Abu al-Walid. Playing a double game and intending to set up both parties, Saidov (probably together with Abu al-Walid himself) gave this information to the CIA. Apparently the CIA was concerned that having left Chechnya the Arab militants would resurface in Iraq The same goal of Muslim liberation was attributed by Yasenev to the organiser of the meeting in France, Anton Surikov: On December 13, 2004, in Adygeia, Surikov had a meeting with a group of Sufi believers and said this: "In the past we were against ahl-ad-dalala [those who have gone astray] with their Arab money. We used to say that one should not separate from Russia. But now Russia is on the brink of collapse and chaos. So we'll be separating [from Russia] with all Muslims of the Caucasus. A new state will be created on our historical lands from Psou and the Black Sea to Laba and Kuban." (The goal of splitting up Russia attributed here to Surikov is that which, in an earlier [1994] text co-authored by Surikov, is attributed by Russian "radicals" to the United States: JUNE — JULY 2006 NEXUS = 31 Yasenev made it clear that Continued on page 78 www. nexusmagazine.com