Complete biography commander khattab washing

Amir ibn al-Khattab(real name - Samer Saleh al-Suwailem(Arabic: ثامر صالح عبد الله السويلم‎‎); April 14, 1969 - March 20, 2002) - field commander, originally from Saudi Arabia, one of the leaders of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria on the territory of the Russian Federation in 1995-2002, a supporter of the creation of an Islamic state in Chechnya.

He preached the ideas of Salafia and the religious holy war (“gazavat”), the practical implementation of which he was engaged in even before Chechnya, participating in hostilities on the side of the Islamists in Afghanistan (1987-1992) and Tajikistan (1993). He was one of the leaders of the Wahhabi organizations “Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade” and “Higher Military Majlisul Shura of the United Mujahideen Forces of the Caucasus.”

Biography

Before his death, his real name was Habib Abd al-Rahman(spelling options - Habib Abdul Rahman, Abd-el-Rahman, Habib ar-Rahman), after - Samer Saleh al-Suwailem.

Rumors about his Chechen origin and alleged service in the “Circassian Guard” - the personal guard of the King of Jordan, consisting of Chechens and Kabardians, are not true.” Akhmat Kadyrov when he was the head of the administration of the Chechen Republic, he indicated that Khattab was allegedly in fact a Yemenite Jew, who named his first daughter Sarah. (This statement was made by Kadyrov after a personal trip to Jordan, during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to establish contacts with the Jordanian Chechen diaspora.) Referring to the FSB, the GRU, or even the CIA, he was called either a Jordanian Chechen or an Arab - sometimes Jordanian, sometimes Saudi, occasionally Yemeni, and sometimes even considered Pakistani.

Zelimkhan Yandarbiev stated that Khattab is Saudi by nationality, “although for some reason he is sometimes called a Jordanian Chechen or something else...”. (According to General Troshev’s book, Khattab was born into a “rich Jordanian family of Chechen origin.”) The fact that Khattab was from Saudi Arabia was also testified by the American Mujahideen Aukei Collins, who fought under his command.

In 2001, the Jordanian ambassador in Moscow, Ahmed Ali Mubaideen, stated that Khattab was never a citizen of Jordan and is not a Jordanian: “ was never a Jordanian, neither by nationality nor by origin».

It is said that his father was the elder of a nomadic Bedouin tribe whose nomadic territory is located on the border of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, in the sands of the al-Shamakh desert. The same source notes the wealth of his Bedouin family and the fact that Khattab, “apparently, was endowed by nature with a good mind and creative imagination.”

In 1987, his relatives sent him to study in the USA, in New York. Reliable information about his life in the USA is not available to the general public; those sources that exist are very contradictory: according to some information, he applied to one of the American colleges, was accepted, but did not start classes, some sources indicate that he still studied until the end of 1987, but it is not clear whether he was already in college or somewhere else. He did not want to return home, citing his right under Sharia law to participate in ghazavat, despite the prohibition of his relatives.

Also in 1987, he went to Afghanistan, where he took an active part in combat operations against Soviet troops. He distinguished himself in the battles for Jalalabad and Kabul. He was seriously wounded in the stomach by a 12.7 mm bullet. Lost several fingers on his hand in a grenade explosion.

In the early 90s, the Azerbaijani government turned to the Afghan Mujahideen with a request for help - the troops were defeated in battles with Armenian formations in Nagorno-Karabakh. One of those who responded to the call was Khattab.

In 1993, after the Mujahideen coalition came to power in Afghanistan, he returned home, but soon returned (in 1994) to Afghanistan, where, with a group of associates, he began training and arming Islamic oppositionists from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. “Khattab in Tajikistan showed his commanding abilities by organizing a series of attacks on Russian border guard outposts” (Washington Profile, 06/27/2002). Participated in the attack on the 12th outpost of the Moscow border detachment, which resulted in the death of 25 Russian border guards. Contrary to the assertion of some sources, Khattab was not the organizer of this attack, but only led one of the detachments that took part in it.

In Chechnya

In December 1994, from a CNN report, I learned about the war in Chechnya: “Khattab told how he saw a story on television about the events in Chechnya. “On the heads of the Chechens there were ribbons with the inscription shahada - La ilaha ilalah..., and they themselves exclaimed “Allahu Akbar!” “I realized that Jihad is going on in Chechnya and I am obliged to take part in it,” after which, using the connections that had developed with the Chechens back in Nagorno-Karabakh, already in January 1995, together with 18 accomplices (including Abu al-Walid al- Ghamidi and Abu Kuteib) arrived in Grozny. He took an active part in the First Chechen War and organized a number of successful operations against Russian troops.

Hero of Russia, Colonel General Gennady Troshev wrote about him in his memoirs: “It was not by chance that Khattab was nicknamed the one-armed man. All the fingers of his right hand are missing one or two phalanges. But he also shoots skillfully with his left hand. The love of weapons is apparently a family disease. The sister of a terrorist, for example, owns a large weapons store in the United States. However, it is unlikely that it will be possible to visit Khattaba’s sister, because Western intelligence services have been hunting for him for many years: “He is 174-176 cm tall, youthful-looking, dark-skinned, has a beard, long shoulder-length hair...”.”

He was an experienced and well-trained terrorist, owned all types of small arms. He understood the mine demolition business. He personally trained the suicide bombers subordinate to him.

Organized foreign financing for the purchase of ammunition and the construction of camps for training militants in Chechnya.

In 1995, together with members of his squad, he founded the military-religious training center "Caucasus" on the outskirts of the village of Serzhen-Yurt (on the territory of a former pioneer camp). In the camp, youth from nearby villages were trained in Islam and various aspects of military affairs. In total, about 10 thousand militants were trained at this training center. According to Zelimkhan Yandarbiev: “I created Khattab’s training camp at the end of the first war through the General Staff headed by Maskhadov.”

According to media reports, in the summer of 1996 he was preparing the liquidation or, if possible, kidnapping of the pro-Russian head of the Chechen Republic Doku Zavgaeva.

Maskhadov said: “ Khattab in our understanding - a volunteer. Somewhere in 1995, he ended up on the territory of Chechnya, fought, and didn’t particularly stand out. When the war ended, he pretended to be a sheep - he did not interfere in any politics, he had nothing to do with anything that was happening here. But he says: because he fought in Chechnya, he cannot return to his home. How to say to a person who fought and helped us: “That’s it.” Get out of here, we don’t need you anymore?’”

In 1998, he joined the terrorist organization Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan (KNID) and headed the Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade (an armed formation of the KNID).

In August and September 1999, together with Shamil Basayev, he organized and led raids of Chechen-Dagestan militants into the territory of Dagestan.

“Until now, I have only fought against the army. I never fought against civilians. But after the events in Dagestan, not only the Russian soldier, but also the entire Russian people will be responsible for their actions,” said Emir al-Khattab Czech journalists. - I came here at the call of my own heart and out of duty as a devout Muslim, since the Koran openly speaks about the duty of a Muslim to participate in the struggle for the establishment of Islam... I want to appeal to everyone who thinks that the Chechen war is over. They are deeply mistaken. Both the past and recent history of the Muslim mountaineers contain many examples when infidels asked for a long-term truce and then violated it.”

It was Khattab who was the link between the militants in Chechnya and international terrorist structures.

The Washington Post wrote in late 2001: “One Western diplomat watching events in Chechnya said the Russians want Maskhadov isolated and eliminated the Islamic part of the Chechen resistance, whose leaders are a mysterious militant from Jordan named Khattab and Chechen Shamil Basayev.

Khattab has been receiving funds for many years from Muslim charities in wealthy oil-producing countries. However, it is unknown whether Maskhadov is willing and able to fight Islamic forces. According to the diplomat, at least 60% of the guerrilla forces belong to the Muslim group.”

They note that the defeat of the Taliban, inflicted on them by the forces of the Northern Alliance with the support of the United States, greatly influenced the emotional state Khattaba. In general, death Khattaba preceded by a complicated story with his alleged intention to go to Afghanistan. They note that if he made these statements, it could be an attempt to confuse Russian forces. On the other hand, there are allegations that these statements were inspired by Russian forces in order to bind Khattaba With Osama bin Laden.

At the end of 2001 in Paris, Vladimir Rushailo told reporters: “We have received reliable information about Khattab’s negotiations with his field commanders that his plans include appearing in Afghanistan in the near future,” he also quoted the words Khattaba that he intends to “kill fat Americans” in Afghanistan.

« Khattab- a disciplined warrior. A world-class Mujahid and generally a wonderful guy... Khattab will not show unnecessary independence. Like Basayev, [he] is the commander of a large group of units,” Zelimkhan Yandarbiev spoke of him at the end of 2001.

First information about death Khattaba appeared in the press on April 11, 2002: “We can talk about this with a great deal of confidence, since in the last two months Khattab did not show himself in any way: he did not get in touch, the actions of militants in the area controlled Khattab, are not coordinated. The likelihood of his death is also confirmed by the data of our informants,” said anonymously one of the FSB officers who took part in the special operation. He also said that to carry out the task, “an agent from among the Arabs fighting in Chechnya, previously recruited by the special service of one of the CIS states". Previously, reports of his death appeared in the media at least ten times.

Representatives of the FSB officially announced the “final” liquidation of Khattab on April 25, 2002: Head of the Department of Assistance Programs of the Federal Security Service Alexander Zdanovich said that Khattab killed as a result of an “undercover combat operation,” the same news was confirmed by presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. It was stated that one hundred percent evidence of the liquidation had been obtained and would be demonstrated to the general public before the May holidays; the pause was explained by the need to “remove the people who participated in the operation from possible attack.”

Liquidation Khattaba was comparable in importance to the liquidation on April 21, 1996 Dzhokhara Dudayeva, this is “the greatest success of federal forces in Chechnya since the capture of Grozny,” wrote Itogi magazine.

“The most odious, charismatic and, partly, semi-mythical figure in the leadership of the Chechen separatists” called Khattaba newspaper “Vremya Novostei” (04/26/2002), - “During the “second Chechen campaign,” this man managed to earn all the epithets and “merits” possible for a militant leader, long ago eclipsing him in “popularity” among the special services and influence among his colleagues Aslana Maskhadova».

A Russian court posthumously recognized Khattaba one of the masterminds of terrorist attacks in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk in 1999.

Khattab's participation

July 13, 1993 - attack on the 12th outpost of the Moscow border detachment on the Tajik-Afghan border.

October 1995 - attack by Khattab’s detachment on a checkpoint of Russian troops near the village of Kharachoy.

On April 16, 1996, near the Chechen village of Yaryshmardy, the Mujahideen under the command of Khattab defeated a column of the 245th motorized rifle regiment of the Russian army (Battle of Yaryshmardy).

Capture of 28 soldiers of the internal troops of the Russian Federation in the village. Shuani.

Together with his squad, he took part in the assault on Grozny in August 1996 (Operation Jihad).

Khattabu is attributed to a terrorist attack against doctors of the Red Cross humanitarian mission on December 17, 1996 in the village of Novye Atagi, when six people were shot by criminals.

December 22, 1997 - attack on the town of the 136th motorized rifle brigade in Buinaksk (Dagestan).

August - September 1999 - organization and leadership, together with Shamil Basayev, of militant incursions into Dagestan with the aim of armed support of local Islamic radicals. During the fighting in Dagestan, there were explosions of residential buildings in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk, the customer of which, as the court established, was Khattab.

In March 2000, he led the breakthrough of militants from the “cauldron” in the Argun Gorge. One of the heavy battles took place on February 29 - March 1 near the village of Ulus-Kert, where militants led by Khattab were able to break through the encirclement, meeting on the way the 6th company of paratroopers of the Pskov Airborne Division (see Battle at Height 776). According to federal forces, up to 2,500 militants broke through the combat formations of the 6th company, who ultimately lost more than 500 people killed.
A little later divisions Khattaba And Shamilya Basayeva During the battle near the village of Gianni-Vedeno, a detachment of Perm riot police was defeated, killing more than 40 police officers, and 11 Perm riot police were captured. The Chechen side offered to exchange captured riot police for a colonel Budanova. The Russians refused and then the captured riot police were executed. At the same time, the Mujahideen command sentenced Budanova to death penalty without statute of limitations.

Personality

They mainly note that he excelled in military skill and knew several languages: “he was a real expert in military affairs, well educated, spoke Pashtun, English and Russian.” According to numerous testimonies, he was limping on his left leg. They noted his passion for video filming.

Personal life

They indicate that Shamil Basayev’s father Salman “gave Khattab his house in Dyshne-Vedeno and called him his son. So Shamil, at that time, unwittingly, became Khattab’s sworn brother.”

In 1996 he married a Darginka from the Kadar zone of Dagestan Fatima Bidagova, daughter of the mukhtar - the elder of the Dargin village of Karamakhi.

Believe me, Dirham (money) keeps the worshipers busy. Worshiping the West, this world, with work and salary. But everything that Allah has is better.

This false worship has caused generation after generation to go through a dead life of routine that is akin to the life of an animal. They get up in the morning for breakfast, then go to work, then to lunch, then home, then go to bed... And life has no purpose.

Believe me, O Saleh, the meaning of their lives was to gain wealth and prosperity, to try to insure themselves against troubles. But the troubles will never end. Trouble with work, with wife, with children, with accommodation, and every time one problem is solved, another appears. They solve one problem after another, and life ends, but the troubles remain.

From the message Khattaba to his son Saleh when he was 3 months old.

KHATTAB AMIR AL

(born in 1963 – died in 2002 (?))

A terrorist of Arab origin, “famous” for his actions in Chechnya and Dagestan against the Russian army.

Amir al Khattab called himself a fighter for the faith of Allah and at the same time, in violation of God's commandments, killed people, both infidels and believers. And in this regard, he can hardly be considered an ideological person. Such people don’t care where to fight or who to kill. However, among the many Chechen fighters, even “famous” ones, Khattab is an odious figure. The goal of his activities was the defeat of Russia and the liberation of the Caucasus from Russian influence. A man far from untalented - he spoke Arabic, Chechen, Dargin, Farsi and Russian - Khattab was an ardent supporter of Wahhabism, the most reactionary and irreconcilable trend in Islam. Already in Chechnya, he married a Darginka from the Dagestan village of Karamakhi (Buinaksky district) and had a daughter. For special “merits” to the Chechen people, this closest friend of Shamil Basayev Khattab, aka Emir Khattab, “Black Arab”, “Ahmed the One-Armed”, Rahman, Al-ibn-Khattab, Ahmed ben-Wahid, Emir Amin-Khattab, Amir Chechen, Mujahideen, Khattab Saudi, Khattab Urduji - was awarded the orders “Koman Siy” and “Koman Turpal” by the government of Ichkeria. But even before his appearance in Chechnya, he managed to make his mark in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

There is a lot of confusion in Khattab’s biography, even down to the year of birth. According to some sources, he is a native and citizen of Saudi Arabia, according to others - Jordan. There is evidence that he studied at the military academy in Amman and even served in the guard of King Hussein. And some argue that Khattab is an ethnic Chechen. And yet, presumably, he comes from one of the Arab tribes wandering on the border of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and his real name is Habib Abd Al-Rahman. His father is a Saudi Arabian, his mother is a native of Turkey, of Turkish nationality. The Khattab family belongs to one of the ancient families of Arabia, and the family in its homeland is considered quite wealthy and respected. According to some reports, Khattab has eight brothers.

Amir was born in 1963. When he turned 19, his relatives decided to send him to study in the USA (the young man was interested in physics). But he then declared his intention to participate in Jihad and, despite the dissuasions of his older brother, left home, motivating his decision with the right to independently choose, according to Sharia, to participate in Jihad. Therefore, it is unknown whether he then visited the ocean or not. At that time, the war in Afghanistan was in full swing, and in 1984, Khattab appeared among the Mujahideen there. He underwent training in one of the training centers in Pakistan, and then took an active part in hostilities against Soviet troops. Khattab was an instructor in Afghan Mujahideen camps in Pakistan. An experienced, well-trained terrorist fighter, he was a specialist in subversion. That's it - I dreamed of becoming a physicist, but became a mercenary. He could have defended the rights of Arabs in Palestine, but for some reason he didn’t want to. During combat operations, Khattab was wounded. According to some sources, the fingers of his right hand were missing one or two phalanges; according to others, there were only two fingers on his right hand. Be that as it may, in the future he wrote and shot with his left hand.

In 1989, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, Khattab returned home for some time. True, not for long. I couldn't sit still. Soon he again went to Afghanistan, where he began to help Tajik and Uzbek refugees. At this time, Khattab already adhered to the branch of Wahhabism developed in Afghanistan by the Palestinian thinker, the spiritual mentor of Osama bin Laden, Abdallah Azzam. Khattab knew bin Laden, and knew him quite closely. This acquaintance will very soon affect the situation in the Caucasus. Bin Laden had a direct connection to inciting Jihad in Chechnya, to turning this small republic into a springboard to Europe.

After the end of hostilities in Afghanistan in 1992, Khattab moved to Tajikistan, where for three years he was in the ranks of the armed Islamic opposition. His type of activity remained the same as in Afghanistan - sabotage and terrorism. But here too everything came to an end. It was necessary to look for a new place to use their “talents”. According to Khattab himself, he learned about the war in the Caucasus only in December 1994 from CNN reports. Before that, he knew practically nothing about Chechnya, except for stories about Imam Shamil. In the spring of 1995, Khattab and three of his comrades, immigrants from the Middle East, arrived in the rebel republic and until March 2002 actively participated in hostilities against the Russian army.

Having considerable experience, Khattab soon led a detachment of up to 300 militants, about half of whom were Arab mercenaries. The detachment's main base was in the village of Serzhen-Yurt, southeast of Grozny, in the Vedeno region, bordering Dagestan. In addition, Khattab’s units were based in the villages of Nozhai-Yurt, Roshni-Chu, Zandak and a number of other settlements in Chechnya. Serzhen-Yurt was not chosen as a base location by chance. In 1995, after the capture of Grozny by federal troops, Khattab’s future closest friend Sh. Basayev brought all available equipment, ammunition, weapons stocks and other military property to the territory of the former pioneer camp and tourist center in the vicinity of the village. It was here that a camp for training militants was created - the “Caucasus Training Center”. Actually, there were several camps. They were called by the names of their commanders: “Khattab-camp”, “Abujafar-camp”, “Yakub-camp”, “Abubakar-camp”, “Davgat-camp”. Here, “teachers” rich in terrorist experience, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and a number of Arab countries, taught capable “students”. Training was conducted in the following disciplines: guerrilla warfare methods, handling of small arms, training of saboteurs and mine bombers, training of specialists in ideological warfare. Moreover, each camp had a specialization. The central “Khattab camp” was the headquarters. About 100 mercenaries were concentrated here, up to 20 “followers” were constantly present, as well as two units of armored vehicles and a large number of vehicles.

Training in the camps followed a three-month course. Up to 100 people studied there at the same time. During its activity, the Caucasus center managed to train several thousand professional “readers of the Koran.” The idea of creating a single Islamic state from the Caspian to the Black Sea was drummed into the heads of listeners. Funds for the maintenance of the camps came from a number of Middle Eastern states, and also, given Khattab’s close contacts with bin Laden, from him too. Not only local Chechens and people from other Muslim nations of Russia and the former USSR, but also representatives of foreign countries underwent combat training and ideological indoctrination in the camps. Members of such terrorist organizations as the Sword of Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the New Current were trained at the Caucasus center.

People were admitted to the training center mainly based on referrals received from Jamaat emirs or mosque imams who preached Wahhabism. The main focus was on young people aged 15 to 25, who had not yet decided on their future life, or who wanted to earn money in this way. In the latter case, religion seemed to fade into the background, but a stable salary of 200 to 500 dollars a month and, in addition, bonuses in the event of the destruction of enemies, became the most important factor encouraging young people to take up arms. For each killed Russian soldier they paid about 1 thousand dollars, for an officer - 2 thousand.

Discipline in the camps was very strict. Young fighters were required to leave their families and obey only their immediate commanders. They had to be ready for anything and consider it happiness to “give their lives for a common cause.” From the first weeks, recruits were trained in the use of explosive devices and were indoctrinated. There was no entertainment in the camps. During breaks between classes, the young men watched videotapes that showed victorious military actions against Russian troops, and torture to which the same Khattab subjected Russian prisoners of war with sophisticated cruelty. This had one goal: young people had to learn to take torture and cruelty calmly, as something taken for granted.

Khattab personally trained the militants subordinate to him and was particularly cruel towards prisoners, including the wounded, preferring to use edged weapons. He mocked the corpses of Russian servicemen, cutting off their noses, ears, and scalping them. The terrorist recorded all these actions on video and photographic tape in order to demonstrate his practical activities. In 2001, Russian special forces discovered more than 150 videotapes with recordings of executions of Russian soldiers in one village in the Archun Gorge. The faces of the perpetrators of the crimes were clearly visible on the films, as well as the faces of the leaders of the Chechen militants who were present, including Khattab and Basayev. Here Khattab and Basayev’s calls to the Chechens to kill “Russian pigs” were also discovered.

In 1996, Khattab’s detachment already numbered over one and a half thousand militants, including several hundred Arabs. By this time, this detachment had carried out more than 20 combat operations against federal troops, mainly on the so-called Central Front, commanded by Sh. Basayev. The most sensational operation was carried out on April 16, 1996 on the mountain road between the villages of Yaryshmardy and Dachuborza (Shatoi district), when a column of the 245th motorized rifle regiment was destroyed in an ambush. Then the Russian side lost 95 people killed, including 26 officers, and 54 wounded. Only 13 servicemen managed to escape from the ambush. In December of the same year, on the orders of Khattab, doctors from the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross were killed in the village of Novye Atagi. Apparently, for his great services to the Chechen people, by order of the President of Chechnya A. Maskhadov, Khattab was then appointed head of the training center of the Central Front, deputy amir of the Majlisul Shura Sh. Basayev, military amir of the Majlisul Shura, and commander of the international brigade. On December 22, 1997, he attacked the 136th motorized rifle brigade in Buinaksk (Dagestan) and was wounded while retreating to Chechnya.

In the summer of 1998, Khattab became significantly more active. Even the local security service reported to Maskhadov: “The Wahhabis, in groups of 15–20 people, are leaving for the Republic of Dagestan, and over the past two weeks they have acquired more large-caliber firearms and vehicles...” Indeed, Khattab organized the delivery of weapons and ammunition for armed actions, and then, with his direct participation, events took place in the city of Kizlyar and the village. Pervomayskoe (Dagestan). At this time, in certain regions of Chechnya, an influx of Wahhabis from Tajikistan and the Arabian Peninsula was noted. They arrived in families, bought houses and engaged in intense propaganda to attract new supporters to their ranks. The desire of the Wahhabis to infiltrate the security service of Chechnya was also noted. At the same time, they were even ready to sacrifice their beard. This was reported by informants embedded in Khattab’s inner circle. By the way, these informants also reported that “Khattab believes that only he has real power over the militants in Chechnya and only he can negotiate with the federal forces.” Other field commanders “are worth nothing without him,” and their destiny is to “winter in the mountains, wait for his return and money.” In addition, Khattab boasted that if he wanted, he would negotiate with Moscow himself, “and not this Maskhadov or Shamil (Basayev).”

Yes, big terror means big money. And the financing of militants from the countries of the Middle East came through Khattab.

But not only money came to Chechnya from outside. Weapons, ammunition, explosives arrived - all this, by the way, also brought considerable profit. Weapons purchased in neighboring Georgia were then resold to Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Russia. Black caviar, gold, gold products, and currency went to Russia, mainly to Moscow, which was due to the difference in the dollar exchange rate in Chechnya and the Russian Federation. Drugs also brought huge profits. They were partly produced in Chechnya, partly imported from Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Then they were transported as barter or for money to Georgia, but for the most part they went to Russia. Maskhadov’s security service knew all this very well. Even in Khattab’s inner circle, her agents worked. One of them was a Bedouin agent, an Arab, the personal representative of Osama bin Laden in Chechnya, recruited by the security service. In addition, information about Khattab came from family contacts, as well as from trusted persons.

In February 2001, a number of media outlets received Khattab's appeal by email. “From now until the end of time,” it said, “the sacred banner of the Prophet will flutter over the entire earth’s surface, over the countries of the infidels, for such is His will. The vile pagans of the West, mired in debauchery, and you, swine-like Jews! I, Amir of the Faithful Khattab, gave the order to my brothers in pious faith, the Chechens located in your dirty countries, to destroy you without pity. The Russians have already learned the hard way the full power of the righteous wrath of the Almighty. Now it's your turn. The flame of Jihad will sweep away your disgusting world, the world of the infidels, we will blow up your houses, ships, planes, we will kill you on the streets of your wicked cities, for the death of the depraved, disgusting pagans is pleasing to the Almighty.” Here Khattab acted as the arbiter of the destinies of the world on behalf of the Almighty! A man, or rather a bloodthirsty maniac, flew high. In the meantime, I didn’t have enough strength for the whole world, so I took up Chechnya. In March of the same year, signed by Sh. Basayev and Khattab, an order was issued ordering the militants to blow up and burn all trains with oil, disable the railway, destroy oil production sites, and force people working in the oil industry to leave their jobs.

In March 2002, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against Khattab on the basis of video materials depicting the execution of Russian military personnel. The film showed Khattab personally shooting one of them. The case was opened under the following articles: hostage-taking, banditry, encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer. And a month later, on April 25, the Russian FSB reported that as a result of a special operation, the international terrorist Khattab was killed. Video materials were presented confirming this fact. But since the details of the operation were not disclosed, there were various rumors, especially about the method of destroying Khattab. According to the most incredible of them, a microchip was implanted into the body of one of the high-ranking militants before being exchanged for four Russian soldiers during the operation to remove the shrapnel. This man was always close to Khattab, so he was soon discovered and destroyed with the help of guided bombs and shells. However, no injuries to Khattab were recorded on the videotape. But according to the militants, he was poisoned using a letter brought to him by a messenger who turned out to be an agent of the Russian special services. In May, it became known that Ibrahim Alauri was executed in Chechnya, who, as the militants’ “investigation” established, collaborated with Dagestani intelligence and personally poisoned the “fatal letter” given to Khattab. Be that as it may, Khattab’s name is no longer mentioned in reports from Chechnya.

From the book Chronicle of Muhammad Tahir al-Karahi about the Dagestan wars during the period of Shamil [The brilliance of Dagestan checkers in some Shamil battles] author al-Karahi Muhammad Tahir

Chapter about Amir Khan's raid in Erpeli and Karanay When the imam passed through Erpeli and Karanay during his return from Kazanishchi, he ordered their inhabitants to move to places inaccessible to enemies. They asked him for a delay until good weather arrived.

Intelligence services reported details of the operation to destroy Khattab

The organizer of the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow, field commander Khattab, was killed in Chechnya on March 19, 2002. His liquidation was probably the most successful special operation since the murder of Dzhokhar Dudayev during the first Chechen war. Kommersant correspondents managed to find out some details of how the security officers dealt with the Black Arab. In any case, the version proposed by the secret services looks very plausible.

Russian special services began hunting Khattab back in 1996, after in April of that year he and a small group destroyed a column of the 245th motorized rifle regiment from an ambush near the village of Yarysh-Mardy in the Argun Gorge. Then 53 soldiers were killed and 52 were wounded. However, the Black Arab, sentenced to death by the Ministry of Defense and the FSB, is as if God were watching over him - he somehow incredibly managed to avoid ambushes set up by special forces, and even missiles that the feds aimed at his satellite phone.

Khattab also survived after being seriously wounded in 1999, when his and Shamil Basayev’s troops entered Dagestan. The leadership of the Russian special services decided to put an end to the biography of the terrorist, who received the nickname Hairy from the operatives (they call Maskhadov Ushasty, and Basayev - Lame), in the fall of the same year - even then it became clear that the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk were organized and financed Black Arab.

Together with the first troops to enter Chechnya, there were fighters of the famous special groups “Alpha” and “Vympel” of the FSB anti-terrorist center, special forces of the GRU and the “Vityaz” detachment of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, to whom the command set a specific task: to find, capture or destroy resistance leaders. One of the first numbers on this list was Khattab.

The special forces say that several times the terrorist field commander literally slipped out of their hands. The FSB managed to recruit a man who was part of Khattab’s detachment. From him the secret service learned that the Black Arab surrounded himself with a triple ring of security. And the Arabs from his closest circle do not allow anyone near Khattab himself. Even some of the field commanders with whom he fought during the first Chechen campaign.

Nevertheless, a militant agent once managed to smuggle into the Khattab camp, located in the Nozhai-Yurt region, an electronic “beacon”, with the help of which it was possible to quite accurately determine the location of the field commander. But the already scheduled operation to capture the Black Arab fell through due to purely technical reasons: the device’s batteries only lasted for half an hour of operation, and during this time the special forces search group located in the mountains simply did not have time to get to the desired point. Having made several more attempts to capture Khattab, which failed, the FSB decided to take advantage of the experience of the 30-40s, when the Soviet special services actively used poisons to eliminate people they did not like. The poison, however, was replaced with the most modern toxic substance. He processed a letter sent from Saudi Arabia to Khattab and intercepted by FSB agents. Any contact with the message was fatal, and the effect of the poison increased significantly over time. The entire chain through which the letter was then sent to the addressee was doomed. The only difference is that the recipient who opened the message will die immediately, and the rest will die after some time.

Kommersant's sources claim that the letter killed not only the Black Arab, but at least ten people close to him and couriers. One of the couriers, Dagestani Wahhabi Magomedali Magomedov, as Kommersant has already reported (see issue of May 25 of this year), was dealt with by the Chechens themselves, who were conducting their own investigation into the death of the field commander. But as it now turns out, the Russian special services used Magomedov and other intermediaries in the dark - they did not know that the letter was poisoned and that they themselves had already received a lethal dose of poison.

Having realized what destructive power the letter had, the Chechens, according to Kommersant sources, decided to use it in the fight against the federals themselves. On the orders of Shamil Basayev, the message, sealed in plastic, was planted in a cache of weapons near the village of Gorny Alleroy, Nozhai-Yurtovsky district, information about which the militants conveyed to the federal forces through familiar Chechen policemen. The cache was discovered by army intelligence - the sergeant who found and examined the letter, and the commander of the battalion in which he served, died. In the meantime, while the army authorities were sorting out the circumstances of their death, the letter was sent to the FSB as a possible source of information about the militants that was vital for the feds. One can only guess how many more people this message could have killed. But just at this time, an FSB specialist who participated in the development of the liquidation of Khattab was in Chechnya on a business trip. Before being sent to Russia, they brought him a letter. They say that, as soon as he saw the familiar envelope, the officer grabbed the special communication tube and began to call for an ambulance helicopter. The poisoner was saved - he became disabled. The letter that killed Khattab and many other people was destroyed.

Dossier on Khattab
Khattab (Habib Abdul Rahman), aka Black Arab, aka Ahmed One-Armed, aka Emir ibn Al Khattab

Origin

Date of Birth
Several options: 1963 or 1965 or 1970
Place of Birth
According to some information - Saudi Arabia, according to others Jordan (although Jordan assures that the terrorist Khattab has nothing to do with it)

Education

In 1987, he graduated from school and was already accepted into one of the American colleges, but went on vacation to Afghanistan. There he met with bin Laden and became imbued with the ideas of jihad.
Graduated from the military academy in Amman (MN Time)
Family status
Married to a Darginka from the Dagestan village of Karamakhi. Has a daughter.
The main stages of the biography
He served in the "Circassian Guard of King Hussein."

A fanatical adherent of Wahhabism.

He is an expert in explosives and all types of light weapons, as well as sabotage operations. Has experience in combat and terrorist operations since 1982.

He fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, and according to some sources was involved in terrorist attacks in Israel.

1992-1993 - Fought as part of the Arab commandos.

In 1993, Khattab was seriously wounded in the battles for Kabul.

1993 -1995 - headed the “special unit” in Tajikistan.

In Tajikistan, he lost several fingers from a grenade explosion, for which he received the nickname Akhmed One-Armed.

In 1994 - 1995 began forming two groups of commandos, mainly Egyptians and Saudis, for the Chechen war.

He arrived in Chechnya in 1994 as part of a group of militants who arrived in Russia from the countries of the Middle East.

In April 1996, he organized an ambush and shot a caravan of federal troops near the village of Shatoy.

At the end of 1997, he attacked a unit of the 136th motorized rifle brigade in the city of Buinaksk (this action served as a kind of test of strength before future aggression in Dagestan).

After the first Chechen war, he declared that he would continue jihad until complete victory over the infidels.

He created a network of specialized camps for training terrorists in the mountainous regions of Chechnya. The main base was located near the village of Serzhen-Yurt.

In mid-1998, he found a “common language” with Basayev on the basis of a common dream - the creation of an Islamic imamate in the entire North Caucasus (before that, their relations were very strained).

In September 1999, together with Basayev’s militants, Khattab’s “fighters” invaded the territory of Dagestan.

In January 2000, he told Reuters that the militants not only would not stop resisting, but were also ready for sabotage on Russian territory.

In March, he set up an ambush near Zhani-Vedeno (according to various sources, from 25 to 40 riot policemen died).

In December 2000, Khattab announced on Al-Jazeera Arabic television that he would help the Palestinian people.

In February 2001, according to the FSB, he participated in the kidnapping of American Kenneth Gluck.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Khattab is the mastermind of the terrorist attacks committed on March 24, 2001 in Mineralnye Vody, Essentuki and Cherkessk.

Additional Information

Height is average. One of the hands is missing the index and middle fingers. He speaks Russian with an accent...Khattab has family roots in Chechnya. 9 years ago I went to fight in Afghanistan. Then - to Tajikistan. Everywhere he created mobile terrorist groups of 100-150 people... Emir Khattab is an implacable opponent of Russia. Professional in mine warfare. Very religious. In total, Khattab has been fighting for about 15 years. In Afghanistan - against the USSR. In Iraq - against NATO and Israel. In Chechnya - against Russia. (“Russian newspaper”, 1999)

I dreamed of becoming a scientist, physicist or mathematician. However, instead of a prestigious university, he decided to fight the “infidels” until they are completely destroyed.

He speaks Arabic, Russian, English and Pashtun.

Khattab not only does not hide, but, on the contrary, even flaunts his pathological cruelty. He personally deals with prisoners, killing people exclusively with cold steel. Violating all the commandments of Islam, he repeatedly mocked the corpses, cutting off their ears, noses, genitals, and removing their scalps. This is confirmed by numerous video and photographic materials. They are distributed in Russia and abroad not only with the aim of exerting psychological pressure on Russian military personnel, but also to enrich criminal groups. (“Independent Military Review”, Moscow, 1999)

“For a month you were taught the art of sabotage, bribery, and spreading rumors. Your task is “to sow mortal terror among those who sold Allah. Every hour they must feel the cold hand of death..." From Khattab's speech to graduates of the sabotage school in 1997. ("Star of Altai", 1999)

Khattab ordered black flags to be installed on every Wahhabi car - signs of the “holy war” with the infidels. In his latest speeches, he calls Dagestan the next front where the “gazzavat” will unfold. Khattab is a key figure in securing financial flows from Saudi Arabia and Jordan to expand Wahhabi influence in the North. (“Soviet Russia”, 1999)

From Khattab's interview. “I'm a pretty poor person. And I don’t do my job for money. Helping a fellow man is the duty of every Muslim. And, in turn, Muslims help us. Not necessarily entire states. Individual people. In addition, the work of our center does not require any special expenses. It’s just that for three months we teach the brothers about Islam, how to use weapons, mines, and so on. And after a three-month training course, young people undergo practical training on the territory of Russia - in the republics adjacent to Chechnya. More often - in Dagestan. But not against his peoples, but against the Russians. The sacred duty of every Muslim is jihad." (“Komsomolskaya Pravda”, 1999)

Amir ibn al-Khattab(real name - Samer Saleh al-Suwailem(Arab.); April 14, 1969 - March 20, 2002) - terrorist, field commander, originally from Saudi Arabia, one of the leaders of the armed formations of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria on the territory of the Russian Federation in 1995-2002, supporter of the creation of an Islamic state in Chechnya. He preached the ideas of Salafia and the religious holy war (“gazavat”), the practical implementation of which he was engaged in even before Chechnya, participating in hostilities on the side of the Islamists in Afghanistan (1987-1992) and Tajikistan (1993). He was one of the leaders of the Wahhabi organizations “Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade” and “Higher Military Majlisul Shura of the United Mujahideen Forces of the Caucasus.”

Biography

Before his death, his real name was Habib Abd al-Rahman(spelling options - Habib Abdul Rahman, Abd-el-Rahman, Habib ar-Rahman), after - Samer Saleh al-Suwailem.

The exact year and place of birth are unknown (according to some sources, they were not known even to him). The year 1963 is indicated, and, as the most probable, 1969. Born in the city of Arar (Saudi Arabia). According to Newsweek, Khattab is an ethnic Chechen, a representative of the large Jordanian Chechen diaspora. There is also information that he was half Circassian; other sources refute this: “According to some evidence, Khattab has Jordanian citizenship. Rumors about his Chechen origin and alleged service in the “Circassian Guard” - the personal guard of the King of Jordan, consisting of Chechens and Kabardians, are not true.” Akhmat Kadyrov, when he was the head of the administration of the Chechen Republic, pointed out that Khattab was allegedly in fact a Yemenite Jew, who named his first daughter Sarah. (This statement was made by Kadyrov after a personal trip to Jordan, during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to establish contacts with the Jordanian Chechen diaspora.) Referring to the FSB, the GRU, or even the CIA, he was called either a Jordanian Chechen or an Arab - sometimes Jordanian, sometimes Saudi, occasionally Yemeni, and sometimes even considered Pakistani. Zelimkhan Yandarbiev stated that Khattab is Saudi by nationality, “although for some reason he is sometimes called a Jordanian Chechen or something else...”. (According to General Troshev’s book, Khattab was born into a “rich Jordanian family of Chechen origin.”) The fact that Khattab was from Saudi Arabia was also testified by the American Mujahideen Aukei Collins, who fought under his command. In 2001, the Jordanian ambassador in Moscow, Ahmed Ali Mubaidin, stated that Khattab was never a citizen of Jordan and is not a Jordanian: “he was never a Jordanian, neither by citizenship nor by origin.”

Emir ibn Al Khattab (according to various versions Hottab, Khatab, Khattab), aka “Ahmed the one-armed”, aka “Black Arab”, born around 1963, height 176 - 178 cm, native and citizen of Jordan. He is of heavy build, dark-skinned, has a beard, long curly hair, all the fingers of his right hand are missing 1-2 phalanges (according to other sources, he has only two fingers on his right hand, while one phalanx is missing on the index), currently lives permanently in village of Vedeno.

Khattab comes from a wealthy family, has seven brothers and many relatives. One of the sisters lives in the USA (New Jersey), where she allegedly runs a weapons store.

In an interview with the Grozny Rabochiy newspaper, he reported that he was from Arabia, his parents were alive, he had seven brothers and many relatives. He dreamed of studying in the USA and becoming a physicist or mathematician, but more than nine years ago he went to fight in Afghanistan, then in Tajikistan, and a little later - in Chechnya. Khattab called the reason for his appearance in the Caucasus “the invasion of Russian infidels and the Jihad caused by this invasion.”

He has several wives, one of whom is a native of the village of Shali. Another wife, a Dargin by nationality, a native of the village of Kadar, Buinaksky district of the Republic of Dagestan. The identification details and place of residence of other relatives are unknown.
Khattab and his family permanently live in the village of Vedeno on Aslambek Sheripov Street in house 1. There are always 2-3 guards from among foreign mercenaries in the courtyard of the house.

Major of the Armed Forces of the ChRI. He was awarded the highest military awards in Chechnya: two orders of “Honor of the Nation” and the gold medal “Valiant Warrior”. Since 1988, he took an active part in hostilities against Soviet troops in Afghanistan, then fought in Tajikistan on the side of the opposition. He arrived in Chechnya in 1994 as part of a group of people from the Middle East.

According to some reports, Khattab has been taking part in various military operations for 17 years, including in Afghanistan on the side of the Mujahideen, in the Persian Gulf countries (presumably in Iraq) and against Israel, and was an instructor in the Afghan Mujahideen camps in Pakistan.

Commander of the detachment of foreign mercenaries “Jamaat Islami” in the Chechen Republic. An experienced and well-trained terrorist fighter, he owns all types of small arms. He has a reputation as a mine demolition specialist. He personally trains the militants subordinate to him. To get around, Khattab can use white Niva, KamAZ, and ZIL cars.

Khattab is very religious, he considers Chechnya “the land of Allah” and is ready to fight until “not a single infidel remains on it.” Pretends to be a Pakistani and communicates with others, as a rule, in very bad Russian. He has unquestioned authority among his subordinates, who unquestioningly carry out any of his orders. Unpretentious. He is revered by militants as a fair and caring commander.

It is distinguished by its particular cruelty towards prisoners, including the wounded. When dealing with captured prisoners, he prefers to use edged weapons. He mocked the corpses of Russian servicemen, cutting off their ears, noses, and scalping them. He records all these actions on video and film in order to demonstrate his practical activities to attract financial resources from Muslim foreign organizations and funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, and Turkey.

From time to time, he shaved off his beard and, under the cover of documents as a journalist from one of the Arab newspapers, took these video recordings abroad (he had a mustache when leaving). He returned from abroad with a large sum of money in foreign currency.

Khattab's appeal to Sheikh Al-Fadel Muhammad Al-Shikha (Saudi Arabia) with a request for funds, in particular, for the purchase of ammunition and the construction of camps for training militants, was recorded.

The attack on a federal troops checkpoint near the village of Kharachoy in October 1995, the attack on a convoy of federal troops near the village of Yaryshmardy, the capture of 28 internal troops in the village of Shuani and other major sabotage actions were carried out under the direct leadership of Khattab. In addition, in order to put pressure on Aslan Maskhadov, who agreed to sign peace with Russia, on his instructions, an explosion was carried out on the route of the convoy with the CRI delegation.

According to some reports, in the summer of 1996, Khattab was preparing to carry out an extremist action against the head of the Chechen Republic Doku Zavgaev, planning to commit a terrorist act or, if possible, kidnap him.

Khattab’s detachment, consisting of mercenaries with experience in combat operations in so-called hot spots, participated in a number of terrorist actions both on the territory of the Chechen Republic and the regions of Russia adjacent to it. A terrorist act against doctors, participants in the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross, on December 18, 1996 in the village of Novye Atagi was committed by Khattab militants.

Khattab's main base is located on the territory of a former pioneer camp in the area of the village of Serzhen-Yurt on the left bank of the Khulkhulau River, where seven training camps are concentrated. Of these, five are under the general leadership of Khattab, the other two are supervised by Shirvani and Shamil Basayev. The five Khattab camps are located at a short distance from each other and are named after the leaders of these camps:

1. Central camp (aka Khattab’s headquarters), where about 100 foreign mercenaries and a small number of Chechen fighters are concentrated.

2. “Abujafar-camp” - training in methods of guerrilla warfare and the use of all types of small arms.

3. “Yakub-camp” - training in mastering the skills of military art, as well as the use of heavy weapons in battle.

4. “Abubakar camp” - training in carrying out sabotage and terrorist actions behind enemy lines.

5. “Davgat camp” - psychological and ideological preparation through in-depth study of the Koran, assimilation of Islamic dogmas.

The educational process is well established; Khattab only inspects it.

The majority of the cadets are from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other republics of the former USSR (about 2000 people). About 50-60 foreigners live permanently in the camp, whose passports were confiscated by Khattab and who, even if they wanted, cannot go back. These are mercenaries from the countries of the Near and Middle East. The camp hosts constant round-the-clock classes with daily shooting practice. Students are well provided with food.

In addition, in the village of Kharachoy, in the madrasah school created by Khattab, there are 80 students, mostly Avars and Dargins. Arab mercenaries teach at the madrasah; preference is given to the reactionary Muslim movement of Wahhabism. In addition, students are given classes in physical and military training. Funding for the school comes from Saudi Arabia.

According to reports, Khattab planned to move the school to a training center being created in a former holiday home on Lake Kezenoy-Am. The number of students can be increased to 300 people. An integral part of the training of militants is the so-called “Islamic Institute Caucasus” located in Serzhen-Yurt, which is actually a branch of the international extremist organization “Muslim Brotherhood”. The main task of this organization is to instill among the peoples of Chechnya and other republics of the North Caucasus the most radical Islamic movement - Wahhabism, as well as the implementation of the idea of creating a single Islamic state in this region “from the Caspian to the Black Sea”.

To achieve their goals, Islamic fundamentalists have developed and are implementing a large-scale program (called the “Islamic Call”) of creating paramilitary formations on the territory of the North Caucasus republics on the model of the Islamic Taliban movement, which includes the so-called “fighters of Islam” who have undergone military and religious training.

The Said Ibn Waqas military training camp is also located at the Islamic Institute Caucasus. Currently, the institute has 40 Arab and Afghan teachers and 160 students; the training program, which is based on the study of the Arabic language and religious disciplines, lasts two months. Almost all students, including, along with citizens of the North Caucasus republics, there are also representatives of Tatarstan, simultaneously undergo military training in the Said Ibn Abu Waqas camp.

Khattab was directly subordinate to the instructions of Zelemkhan Yandarbiev, is closely acquainted and regularly contacts with Shamil Basayev, taught the latter the specifics of war in the mountains, explosives, methods and techniques of sabotage and terrorist activities. Basayev is his close friend, so he organized Khattab’s marriage to a Chechen woman (from the village of Vedeno), recommended him to the bride’s parents.