Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Bin Laden’s Envoy to Oversee Chechen Rebel Activities in Russia
Created: 27.09.2004 15:42 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:42 MSK


MosNews



Abu Hafs, a close associate of Osama Bin Laden, has been put in charge of rebel activities in Chechnya, the Gazeta daily reports.

The newspaper writes that Russian special services know little of Abu Hafs. The article writes that Abu Hafs and two more foreign warlords, known for their roles in Chechen armed formations — Abu Al Walid and Khattab — got to know Bil Laden in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan war.

In 1993 Bin Laden sent all three to Tajikistan where they fought for two years in the civil war. In 1995 the three men arrived in Chechnya. Because of their close ties with Bin Laden, Khattab and Abu Al Walid controlled the money the Chechen guerillas received from their foreign sponsors.

Khattab was killed by a poisoned letter in 2002 and Abu Al Walid died in a gunfight with Russian troops in April 2004.

The spokesman for the Federal HQ in the Northern Caucasus, Ilya Shabalkin, said late last week that Abu Al Walid’s death had been confirmed.

“During a special operation in mid-April 2004 federal forces eliminated the Arab mercenary and functionary of the international terrorist organizations Muslim Brothers and Al-Qa’idah, Abu al-Walid. Operational data, gathered by the special services, and information from other sources indicates that his place has been taken by another Arab mercenary, Abu-Hafs,” Shabalkin said.


http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/09/27/hafs.shtml