AP has a fascinating article on the influence of radical Islam on Chechen rebels.
A Saudi-born warrior so zealously Muslim that he’s traumatized by even touching nonbelievers has risen to the top echelon of rebels in Chechnya, Russian officials and rebel sources say, a symbol of how a once-secular fight has come under the influence of radical Islam.
To the Russian security services, the rebel commander known as Abu Walid embodies Chechnya’s place in the chain of international terrorism – a connection they stress to win Western support for their military campaign in the southern Russian region.
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To the rebels, Abu Walid represents a growing trend toward strict Islamic practices, a tendency reflected in the appointment of a spiritual counselor as co-leader of even the smallest rebel unit.
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He recalled a telling encounter at one meeting of rebel commanders when Abu Walid – who adheres to the conservative Wahhabi strain of Islam – embraced a journalist, convinced by his beard that he was a good Muslim. When he learned otherwise, he retreated from the world for two days, praying night and day to cleanse himself after touching an infidel.
That extreme piety, the liaison said, has won supporters.
“Lots of young people (in Chechnya) are turning to the Wahhabis. There are lots of battalions under the banner of radical Islam,” he said.
