HOW AMIR KHATTAB BECAME SHAHEED IN CHECHNYA

Monday, April 29, 2002
Department of Strategic Information, Kavkaz-Center
http://www.kavkaz.org/eng/article.php?id=565

Command Headquarters of the Chechen Mujahideen forwarded the official
information to Kavkaz-Center about the death of Amir Khattab. The death
of the Chechen Commander has been officially confirmed in accordance
with this information. Some details of the death of Commander Khattab
and how the tape ended up in the hands of the invaders are pointed out
in the report.

According to the information from the Headquarters of the Chechen
Mujahideen, Amir Khattab was poisoned on March 19 by a letter that was
brought to him by a messenger. As the Headquarters claim, it was
established exactly that Khattab was poisoned by that letter. Khattab
knew the messenger who brought the letter. Nothing was reported about
the fate of the messenger. But according to some information he is now
with the Russians. The report that came from the Mujahideen's
Headquarters did not specify who the letter came from. Kavkaz-Center
was unable to get that information either.

The report further says that Amir Khattab was buried in the mountain
regions of Chechnya and only a narrow circle of the individuals who
were close to him know where it is. Amir Elsi (radio call sign
"Gardez") from the town of Gekhi, his bodyguard and his right hand, was
one of them. His face was occasionally slipping through when Khattab
was being filmed. Elsi had the tape with the video recording. Several
days ago, on April 23 to be more exact, Esli was killed in the shooting
with the invaders. Thus, the tape with the recording ended up in the
hands of the invaders only on April 23.

The Command Headquarters of the Chechen Mujahideen reported that the
information about the death of the Chechen Commander was secret for
some time in order not to encounter any obstacles while burying Amir
Khattab and to avoid possible defiling of his grave by the invaders.
The report also pointed that the sub-units that Khattab was in charge
of, are now headed by his assistant Amir Abu-Walid.

Let us remind that this is the official version of the death of Amir
Khattab, that was spread by the Command Headquarters of the Chechen
Mujahideen on Saturday, April 27.

There is also information that the temporary secrecy about the death of
the Chechen Commander was connected to the fact that his body was
secretly transported back to his homeland, Saudi Arabia. That's why,
allegedly, there were no reports of Khattab's death for the time being,
so that his body could be delivered to his relatives without hindrance.
However this version is least likely, because it contradicts all the
Laws of the Shari'ah. According to the Shari'ah, Shaheed's grave is
where he died.

Kavkaz-Center Agency has also received more detailed information about
a meeting between Amir Khattab and President Maskhadov, about which our
agency reported earlier referring to the sources in Chechen Leadership.
Let us remind that according to that information, the meeting between
Maskhadov and Khattab took place on April 12-13. However according to
the detailed information, that meeting took place much earlier. On
April 12 an audiotape with Khattab's speech was forwarded to Shamil
Basayev, where he reported to Basayev about the meeting that was held.
That information allows us to say that the meeting between President
Maskhadov and Khattab took place in April. These clarifications were
made by Shamil Basayev himself, who reported it to Kavkaz-Center Agency
through a mediator.

Biography Information:
Kavkaz-Center Agency has some, not numerous, facts of Amir Khattab:

Amir Khattab -- was originally from Saudi Arabia. His father -- is a
Saudi Arab who belongs to one of the oldest clans of Arabia. His mother
is a native of Turkey, of Turkish background. Khattab has many
relatives. In his homeland his family is known to be respectable and
quite affluent. According to some information, Khattab has 8 brothers.
When he was 15 years old, his family decided to send him to study in
the US. However, the juvenile left the house by motivating his decision
to independently choose to take part in the Jihad, according to the
Shari'ah. Even though his older brother tried to talk him out of it,
Khattab went to Afghanistan as a volunteer. For several years he was
fighting against the troops of Soviet invaders. He was wounded. After
Soviet troops withdrew, Khattab returned home. However, he left for
Afghanistan again, where he started to help Tajik and Uzbek refugees.
According to Khattab himself, in December 1994 he found out about the
war in Caucasus from CNN reports. Before that, he knew nothing about
Chechnya except stories about Imam Shamil who is buried in Medina.
Khattab said that he made a decision to go to Chechnya when he saw on
TV how Chechen Mujahideen were proclaiming "Allah-u Akbar!" (God is
Great!). Khattab arrived in Chechnya with his companions in 1995 and
had not left Chechnya ever since.

Starting from March 1995 until March 2002 Amir Khattab was an active
participant in combat operations against the troops of Russian
invaders. In 1996 he was appointed the Chief of Military Training
Center of the Central Front of Chechen Armed Forces by President of
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Military Amir of Majlisul Shura of the
Mujahideen of Ichkeria and Dagestan. Deputy of Shamil Basayev, Amir of
Majlisul Shura. Commander of the Islamic International Brigade. Honored
by the highest awards of the Chechen State. Amir Khattab's wife is a
Darginian, native of the village of Karamakhi, Dagestan. Khattab has
two children.

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