Chechen leader in Saudi Arabia to divert aid from rebels
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Mini-oil refineries installed by separatists throughout Chechnya and destroyed by the federal forces during the military campaign in the North-Caucasian republic will be replaced by modern ones supplied by Saudi Arabia – earlier accused of funding rebels. On Thursday Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov arrived in Saudi Arabia for a 3-day visit, during which he will discuss possible Saudi investment in the Chechen economy.
A delegation of senior Chechen government officials headed by Akhmad Kadyrov arrived in Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz. ''I think the most important factor is that Prince Abdullah invited the leaders of the Chechen Republic. This is a definite recognition of the current authorities,'' he told reporters at a Moscow airport before leaving for the kingdom.
This is Kadyrov’s second visit to Saudi Arabia. In 1997 Kadyrov, the then-Mufti of the self-styled republic of Ichkeria, accompanied the then-president of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov on a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest shrines in Saudi Arabia.
This time Kadyrov is visiting Riyadh in his new capacity as president of the Chechen Republic. Apart from the political issues, Kadyrov hopes to discuss with the crown prince possible investment in the Chechen economy and, in particular, to ask for financial assistance for the new leadership of Chechnya. In other words, Kadyrov seeks to re-direct the funding Saudi Arabia allegedly offers to the Chechen rebels in favour of the official authorities.
In particular, according Edi Esayev, the chief spokesman for Akhmad Kadyrov, the delegation plans to ask for Saudi assistance in building mini-refineries. ''Saudi Arabia has vast experience in refining oil. We will ask them to supply that equipment. We cannot, as earlier, refine 20 million tons of oil per year. There is no such need,'' Mr. Isayev reported.
According to the presidential press-service, Kadyrov will ask for mini-refineries with a capacity of no more than 500-1,000 tons of oil per day. The new Chechen leadership may also plan to use that equipment to clean the area around Grozny which has been polluted with oil.
Also, the Chechens hope to persuade the Saudis to supply equipment for workshops to create new jobs in the republic. ''Small workshops, so as to encourage people to engage in handicrafts, maybe even to work at home - all that is highly developed in Saudi Arabia,'' Isayev said.
The delegation is also set to discuss the supplies of medical equipment and medication from Saudi Arabia to Chechnya.
In 1996 Saudi Arabia called Moscow's campaign against separatists in the mainly-Muslim region of Chechnya ''foreign tyranny''. Moscow-Riyadh relations have also been strained by Russian allegations of Saudi funding for Chechen rebels. But Kadyrov said his trip showed relations had improved and that Riyadh was preventing money being sent to the separatists.
''I would also say that (the trip) is recognition that the operation that is going on (against the separatists) is not against the people or against Muslims,'' he said. Kadyrov is the key figure in Moscow's peace plans in Chechnya, but rebels refuse to surrender, and consider him a collaborator. 15 ßÍÂÀÐß 15:49
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