Much Ado

A recent post on chechnya-sl

Much Ado About (Almost) Nothing

Here in Israel there were over the years some claims of Chechen Aid to the Palestinians, and i can testify that not one had any ground to it (BTW, Maskhadov's Government alway denied this alleged link; as far as i know, most of the time the Chechens wanted nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict). Those Hamas "links" are a Poster showing the faces Of Khattab, Hamas Leader Akhmed Yassin and Bassayev and Bin-Laden - all portrayed as heros of Islamic Struggle, see the links - some other Anti-Russian material, and a Fatwa (Islamic Ruling) from 2001 byMahmed Ibn Abdullah El-Seif (Do I spell it correctly?), the so-called "mufti of the Chechen Islamic fighters", sanctioning Suicide attacks agains the infidels. this last fatwa was Published on the Hamas Website in 2001. I Personally know the material is Original, and the army captured more than one Hamas CD-Rom and Poster that endorses theChechens' struggle against Russia, trying to portray it as part of as worldwide Islamic Struggle. However, I'm quite Sure That Russia knows that already. for twoyears they have been getting this material, and i don't think thatPutin has any Illusions about the Hamas, or really believes it is not a terrorist organization. he does it for his political reasons, perhaps to get himself back into middle east Bussiness, and I believe he's fully aware of the Hamas Covenant and Anti-Russian propaganda. Therefore the Israeli effort is unlikely to bring any change in Russian attitude towards the Hamas.
Links:

1. Khattab, Yassin, Bassayev, Bin-Laden:

http://www.intelligence.org.il/sp/9_04/img/chech_1.gif

2. "Hamas - we don't believe in Talks". map of Chechnya on the left.

http://www.intelligence.org.il/sp/9_04/img/chech_3.jpg

3. "The Commander of the Mujaheedin In Chechnya, The Shaid Commander Kahttab":

http://www.intelligence.org.il/sp/9_04/img/chech_4.jpg

4. Obituary for Khattab:

http://www.intelligence.org.il/sp/9_04/img/chech_6.jpg

5. From the CD "Russian Hell in Chechnya" (available through Emule. i used it for research):

http://www.intelligence.org.il/sp/9_04/img/chech_7.jpg

ok, i think this is enough. Those who read russian can find the review by the Israeli center for Intelligence and Terrorism Studies here:

http://www.intelligence.org.il/ru/ru_n/pdf/hamas_moscow_r.pdf