Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MOSCOW12159
2006-11-01 11:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:
CHECHEN PRESIDENCY: KADYROV SAYS HE HAS PUTIN'S
how-toVZCZCXRO6170 OO RUEHDBU DE RUEHMO #2159 3051127 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 011127Z NOV 06 FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4736 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 012159
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER MARR RS
SUBJECT: CHECHEN PRESIDENCY: KADYROV SAYS HE HAS PUTIN'S
NOD
REF: MOSCOW 9533
Classified By: PolMinCouns Alice Wells. Reason 1.4 (b, d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 012159
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER MARR RS
SUBJECT: CHECHEN PRESIDENCY: KADYROV SAYS HE HAS PUTIN'S
NOD
REF: MOSCOW 9533
Classified By: PolMinCouns Alice Wells. Reason 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C) Ramzan Kadyrov said privately that Putin has told him
he will name Kadyrov President of Chechnya before the end of
the year. Dagestani Duma Member Gadzhi Makhachev (protect)
told us November 1 that Kadyrov revealed this to him in a
conversation at Kadyrov's Bayram ('Id al-Fitr) party in
Gudermes, Chechnya. Kadyrov told Makhachev that current
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov will be given "a nice post" in
Moscow. Makhachev believes the inauguration will take place
in January, 2007.
2. (C) Makhachev said that Kadyrov asked him to take the post
of Prime Minster of Chechnya (which Kadyrov now occupies).
Makhachev said he agreed to consider the offer and will
consult with friends and allies. We expressed surprise at
the offer (Makhachev is an Avar, not a Chechen),and
Makhachev replied that Kadyrov listens to him out of respect
for the relationship Makhachev had with Kadyrov's late
father. During the first Chechen war, Makhachev explained,
Makhachev hid Kadyrov senior from the Federal forces who were
seeking him as a rebel leader. Makhachev continued the close
relationship with Ramzan, who drove from Chechnya to Dagestan
in August to attend the wedding of Makhachev's son (reftel).
3. (SBU) Trial balloons for the appointment have been
appearing regularly in the Russian press. Most recent is a
November 1 article in Kommersant portraying a groundswell of
enthusiasm for Kadyrov's presidency at a session of the
"Assembly of the Peoples of Chechnya" under way in Groznyy.
4. (C) Comment: Personal ties mean everything in the
Caucasus, not least the personal ties between Kadyrov and
Putin. Only such ties can explain why Putin would remove
Alkhanov, one of the few counterweights to Kadyrov, and stake
everything on such an unpredictable -- and potentially
uncontrollable -- leader of the restive republic.
BURNS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER MARR RS
SUBJECT: CHECHEN PRESIDENCY: KADYROV SAYS HE HAS PUTIN'S
NOD
REF: MOSCOW 9533
Classified By: PolMinCouns Alice Wells. Reason 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C) Ramzan Kadyrov said privately that Putin has told him
he will name Kadyrov President of Chechnya before the end of
the year. Dagestani Duma Member Gadzhi Makhachev (protect)
told us November 1 that Kadyrov revealed this to him in a
conversation at Kadyrov's Bayram ('Id al-Fitr) party in
Gudermes, Chechnya. Kadyrov told Makhachev that current
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov will be given "a nice post" in
Moscow. Makhachev believes the inauguration will take place
in January, 2007.
2. (C) Makhachev said that Kadyrov asked him to take the post
of Prime Minster of Chechnya (which Kadyrov now occupies).
Makhachev said he agreed to consider the offer and will
consult with friends and allies. We expressed surprise at
the offer (Makhachev is an Avar, not a Chechen),and
Makhachev replied that Kadyrov listens to him out of respect
for the relationship Makhachev had with Kadyrov's late
father. During the first Chechen war, Makhachev explained,
Makhachev hid Kadyrov senior from the Federal forces who were
seeking him as a rebel leader. Makhachev continued the close
relationship with Ramzan, who drove from Chechnya to Dagestan
in August to attend the wedding of Makhachev's son (reftel).
3. (SBU) Trial balloons for the appointment have been
appearing regularly in the Russian press. Most recent is a
November 1 article in Kommersant portraying a groundswell of
enthusiasm for Kadyrov's presidency at a session of the
"Assembly of the Peoples of Chechnya" under way in Groznyy.
4. (C) Comment: Personal ties mean everything in the
Caucasus, not least the personal ties between Kadyrov and
Putin. Only such ties can explain why Putin would remove
Alkhanov, one of the few counterweights to Kadyrov, and stake
everything on such an unpredictable -- and potentially
uncontrollable -- leader of the restive republic.
BURNS