Ilyas Akhmadov

Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov
Native name	Ilyas Xamzat Axmadkhant Ильяс Хамзат АхмадКIант
Born	(1960-12-19) December 19, 1960 Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
Occupation	Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov (Chechen: Ilyas Xamzat Axmadkhant/Ильяс Хамзат АхмадКIант, Russian: Ильяс Хамзатович Ахмадов; born December 19, 1960) served as the foreign minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He currently resides in the United States, where he was granted political asylum.

Biography

Akhmadov was born on December 19, 1960 in Kazakhstan, where most of the Chechen nation—including his family—was exiled by Stalin's government in 1944. The Akhmadovs returned to Chechnya in 1962.

From 1978 to 1981 Ilyas Akhmadov studied in the Polytechnic University of Volgograd. After graduation, he served for four years as a Sergeant Major in the Red Army's Strategic Missile Forces. He left the army in 1985 as a Third Lieutenant, and in 1991 he graduated with distinction in political science from the Rostov University.

Returning to Chechnya, which had declared independence from Russia in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, he took a job in the political department of the Chechen Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In August 1994 Akhmadov was wounded during the fighting with forces of the warlord Ruslan Labazanov in Argun.

After the First Chechen War broke in 1994, Akhmadov fought against the Russian federal forces, serving first as a volunteer fighter and then as the public affairs officer to Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen headquarters' chief of staff. In 1996, when the Chechens defeated the poorly organised Russian army, he retired to private life.

Self-exile

On July 29, 1999, a month before the beginning of the Second Chechen War, the President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov appointed Akhmadov as Foreign Minister. Soon, Akhmadov and his colleagues in the separatist government dispersed and went into hiding, with some again taking up arms against the Russians. Akhmadov himself left Chechnya.

In his appeals and meetings with the representatives of UN, OSCE, PACE, European Parliament, UNHCR, U.S. Congress, the U.S. presidential administration and international NGOs, he called for observance of human rights during the conflict. In January 2000, Akhmadov visited the United States, where he met with officials of the State Department. He embarked on a tour of Western capitals, returning twice to the United States in 2000 and again in 2001. This provoked complaints from Russia, which alleged that he was involved in terrorism in Chechnya and elsewhere in Russia.

In 2002 Akhmadov claimed asylum in the United States but his initial bid was turned down after opposition from the United States Department of Homeland Security. However, he gained support from members of the U.S. Congress and peace campaigners, who saw him as a moderate (indeed, Akhmadov has repeatedly criticised suicide bombings and hostage-takings by Chechen extremists and has campaigned for peace talks to end the war). In April 2004 an Immigration Judge in Boston issued an order granting Akhmadov asylum in the United States; that ruling became effective in August 2004 following the U.S. Government's abrupt withdrawal of its notice of appeal of the Immigration Judge's decision.

External links

Articles by Akhmadov

Russia's Dirty War Against Chechnya, 19 April 2001
Talk peace in Chechnya in The Boston Globe, 29 September 2003
A Chechnya Plan: Talk in The Washington Post, 10 December 2004
Russia's Forgotten War in The Boston Globe, February 24, 2005

Interviews with Akhmadov

June 1999 interview about the first war
Chechnya fears 'total destruction' from BBC News, November 9, 1999
Chechen Foreign Minister of Chechnya Ilyas Akhmadov Visits RFE from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 15 November 1999

Stories on Akhmadov

U.S. Puts a Low Profile on Meeting With Chechen Foreign Minister, on a Clinton Administration meeting with Akhmadov, from The New York Times, January 14, 2000
Sacrificing Principle to Putin, on Akhmadov's asylum case, from The Washington Post, December 16, 2003
Two-Faced Chechnya Policy, on Akhmadov's asylum case, from The Washington Post, June 30, 2004
Editorial supporting the granting of asylum to Akhmadov in the U.S. from The Washington Post, August 10, 2004
Story of Akhmadov's asylum in the U.S., and Followup questions from The Washington Post, March 20, 2005

Bibliography

Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy. The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost. - Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. ISBN 0-230-10534-3

Chechen–Russian conflict

Key events	Conflict	Federalists	Separatists	Mujahideen

Wars First Chechen War War of Dagestan Second Chechen War War in Ingushetia First Chechen War (1994–96) 1994 Grozny battle 1994 Khankala battle 1994–95 Grozny battle 1996 Shatoy ambush 1996 Grozny battle 1996 Khasavyurt accord Second Chechen War (1999–2009) 1999 Chechnya bombing 1999–2000 Grozny battle 2000 Height 776 battle 2000 Komsomolskoye battle 2000 Zhani ambush 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash 2004 Nazran raid 2004 Grozny raid 2005 Nalchik raid Counter-insurgency operations Guerrilla phase Insurgency (2009–present) Insurgency in the North Caucasus	Major attacks 1995 Budyonnovsk hostage crisis 1996 Black Sea hostage crisis 1996 Kizlyar hostage crisis 1999 Apartment bombings 2002 Moscow hostage crisis 2002 Grozny truck bombing 2004 Aircraft bombings 2004 Beslan school siege Related topics Censorship of Chechnya coverage Crimes and terrorism Mass graves Suicide attacks Assassinations Casualties (Second Chechen War) Aircraft losses International response Politics of Chechnya Chechenpress Kavkaz Center In culture Alexandra Angel of Grozny Ant in a Glass Jar Polina Zherebtsova's Journal The 3 Rooms of Melancholia The Pathologies The Search War	Combatants Russian Federation Armed Forces Ground Forces Ministry of Internal Affairs OMON ODON Internal Troops Federal Security Service Main Intelligence Directorate Special Forces (Spetsnaz) Republic of Chechnya Militia (Kadyrovtsy) Leaders Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin Chechnya † Akhmad Kadyrov Alu Alkhanov Ramzan Kadyrov † Dzhabrail Yamadayev † Ruslan Yamadayev † Sulim Yamadayev	Combatants Ichkeria Caucasian Front Leaders † Dzhokhar Dudayev † Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev † Aslan Maskhadov † Abdul-Halim Sadulayev † Ruslan Gelayev † Shamil Basayev † Arbi Barayev † Salman Raduyev Akhmed Zakayev † Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev † Vakha Arsanov Ilyas Akhmadov † Movsar Barayev † Muslim Atayev † Rasul Makasharipov † Ilias Gorchkhanov † Rappani Khalilov	Combatants Caucasus Emirate Arab Mujahideen Islamic International Brigade Riyad-us Saliheen Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Caucasus Province Leaders † Magomed Suleimanov † Aliaskhab Kebekov † Dokka Umarov (POW) Aslambek Vadalov (POW) Ali Taziev † Anzor Astemirov † Supyan Abdullayev Aslan Byutukayev Movladi Udugov † Khuseyn Gakayev (POW) Tarkhan Gaziyev † Said Buryatsky † Magomed Vagabov † Rustam Asildarov † Asker Dzhappuyev † Arthur Getagazhev † Ibn al-Khattab † Abu al-Walid † Abu Hafs al-Urduni † Muhannad † Abdulla Kurd

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 120437356 LCCN: n2010021945 ISNI: 0000 0001 1701 1775 SUDOC: 153815523 BNF: cb167780802 (data)

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Ilyas Akhmadov

Biography

Self-exile

See also

External links

Bibliography