Sebastian Smith is a prize winning author and journalist. He has been a correspondent in Washington, Moscow and London for the English- language service of Agence France-Presse and is currently living and working in Georgia. ‘Fluent and persuasive prose ... admirably clear,’ New Statesman ‘A moving example of how history can be written. Smith’s account of the historical background to the conflict reads like a novel, but better, because it also has the intimacy and immediacy of an eyewitness account. He has given us a memorable, well-researched account of a peculiarly horrible war’ Literary Review ‘This is a riveting book, written with almost seamless elegance. But Allah’s Mountains is not simply a reportage. In a commendable effort to go beyond the present facts, Smith has delved deeply into the broader Caucasian context, steeping himself in the knowledge of its myriad peoples, cultures and languages’ International Affairs ‘Sebastian Smith’s Allah’s Mountains is a riveting battle by battle account’ The Tablet ‘Excellent, readable, insightful’ Jane’s Intelligence Review ‘Smith’s book is exceptionally well written, alternating between hard reporting and more personal vignettes that give the flavour and emotional colouring of the area’ The Moscow Times ‘Heads of state and their foreign ministers should be forced to read and ponder this book’ Professor George Hewitt Tauris Parke Paperbacks is an imprint of I.B.Tauris. It is dedicated to publishing books in accessible paperback editions for the serious general reader within a wide range of categories, including biography, history, travel, art and the ancient world. The list includes select, critically acclaimed works of top quality writing by distinguished authors that continue to challenge, to inform and to inspire. These are books that possess those subtle but intrinsic elements that mark them out as something exceptional. The Colophon of Tauris Parke Paperbacks is a representation of the ancient Egyptian ibis, sacred to the god Thoth, who was himself often depicted in the form of this most elegant of birds. Thoth was credited in antiquity as the scribe of the ancient Egyptian gods and as the inventor of writing and was associated with many aspects of wisdom and learning. Published in 2006 by Tauris Parke Paperbacks An imprint of I.B.Tauris and Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan a division of St. Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 First published in 1998 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd Copyright © 1998, 2001, 2006 Sebastian Smith Cover image: Female Chechen rebel fighter © Heidi Bradner/Panos The right of Sebastian Smith to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978 1 85043 979 0 eISBN 978 0 85773 076 3 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available For my Father Contents List of Maps Acknowledgements Introduction Prologue Part 1 The Jigsaw Part 2 Fires of Liberty Part 3 The Jigsaw in Pieces Part 4 The Chechen Wolf Part 5 The Fury Part 6 Chasing Paradise Bibliography Maps 1 Southern Russia and the Caucacus 2 Extent of Russian Conquest in Caucasus in 1800 3 Existing and Proposed Oil and Gas Pipelines 4 Ethnic Groups in the North Caucasus 5 Chechnya During 1994–96 War 6 Grozny Acknowledgements The first people I owe thanks are those in Chechnya who risked their lives to protect mine, or to help me get the story for my news agency, usually for no reward. In true Caucasus style, many others ignored considerable hardships to house and feed me. Some are named in this book, but many are not. A special thanks to Mussa Damayev of Shali, Salamu Turlayev of Novy Tsenteroi, Khanzad Batayev and Movladi Yermolayev of Bamut, Ali Atuyev of Stary Achkhoi, Islam Gunayev of Hadji Yurt, Yussup of Serzhen Yurt. I am grateful to all those in other parts of the North Caucasus who displayed such magnicifent hospitality and also to the many academics and officials who gave me their time. Especially: in Dagestan, Sayid Khabetov of Novoselskoye, Natasha Stoyanova of Makhachkala and Gussein Gazimagomedov of Gimry; in Ingushetia, Boris Khaniyev; in North Ossetia, Anatoly Isayenko at Vladikavkaz University and Vladimir Shakbazidi at the Greek Society; in Kabardino- Balkaria, Kazir Dzhammal and his family in the mountains; in Karachai- Cherkessia, Karachai leader Kazbek Chomayev and mullah Kazbek Shamatayev, Rasul and friends; in Adygea, Khamzet Kazanov, Aslan, museum director Almir Abregov and national dance troupe director Amerbi Kulov; also the staff of the Severny Kavkaz newspaper, especially Tatyana Mamkhyagova in Cherkessk. For their great help in knocking sense into my manuscript, I am forever grateful to Andrew Harding, James Meek, Carey Scott and Antony Smith. I also thank Anna-Maria Boura, Laurence Peter, Andrei Piontkovsky and Dmitri Trenin for their comments on the text, and Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times for their archives, and the Centre for Global Energy Studies and Philip Armstrong for maps. Also thanks to my AFP boss Paola Messana for giving me time off to write and an unlimited chance to work in Chechnya; to Natasha Fairweather for helping me find a publisher; to Marina Lapenkova and Valentina Blinova for teaching me to enjoy the Russian winter; to the late Peter Braestrup and to Jack Kneece Åsne Seierstad for their early encouragement; to fellow journalists in Chechnya, some of whom, but not all, are mentioned in this book, for their company and support; and finally to Anna Enayat at my publishers I.B.Tauris for taking on the book and being so patient at my rewrites and delays. This book could not have been written without help from previously published works. They are listed in the bibliography, but I am particularly indebted to the various works of Alexandre Bennigsen and S. Enders Wimbush on Islam under the Soviet Union; to Robert Conquest for his definitive account of the