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Basaev Collects Levy from Entire Russia
December 9, Shamil Basaev is a wealthy man, Izvestia writes Thursday. By the information from special services, he gets donations or tributes from most Chechen entrepreneurs from St. Petersburg to Tyumen.
In his interviews Basaev tries to keep at a distance from Al Quaeda, saying he does not get any centralized financial aid from it, but basically raises money in Russia. Basaev’s words are confirmed by special services working in Chechnya.
According to one of the counterintelligence senior officers, the geography of his influence is broader than with any other field commanders, he made it even to Moscow and sent his collectors to St. Petersburg. Basaev recruits rebels and conducts financial activities in the Chechen diasporas in Central and European parts of Russia. His people have been to Siberia, including Tyumen region, rich in oil and gas and collecting levy from local businessmen of Chechen origin.
Basaev also gets money from the Chechen Police, e.g. former officers of the Chechen presidential security, which had been created from rebels, who had surrendered. The service is disbanded and its rebels transferred into patrol regiments. However, they are still under the son of murdered Ramzan Kadyrov, and called no other than ‘Kadyrovtsi’ Izvestia writes.
According to one of the officers of counterintelligence, Kadyrovtsi monopolistically control illegal oil production. Some of them still stay in touch with illegal armed formations.
There is an opinion, according to which any active work on destructing this pseudo-police structure will destabilize the situation and make most Kadyrovtsi go back to the mountains. However, the source in the counterintelligence thinks differently: They can’t carry war on us, since that party won’t accept them. Besides, I believe Kadyrovtsi are not organized enough to pose a threat. We have to start working on them immediately.
Besides, Basaev notes that in 2004 he got some money from abroad – &;euro 1,000 from United Arab Emirates, $9,000 from Turkey and &;euro 4.5 thousand from Germany.
“Basaev is one of the few rebels who have a personal financing channel from abroad, - deputy head of the Chechen FSB department Aleksandr Potapov reports, - which means he gets the money not through Arab middlemen, but personally.”
Potapov notes that Basaev evacuated his 35-year-old brother Shirvani to Turkey by Shamil after he was severely wounded three years ago. Shirvani is coordinating the Chechen diaspora’s activities in Turkey, buying military equipment and transporting all this in Chechnya.
As to Arabs, who are now in Chechnya, the officer finds their role in financing rebels exaggerated, especially after Khattab and Abu al-Valid were killed.
Besides, Izvestia writes that there is an information from investigation, that terrorist training bases and centers as well as Basaev’s sources of financing are located at the Azerbaijani territory. However, there’re no proofs of that whatsoever. Serious consultations are being held at the top level in order to locate the bases and disclose them.
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