RUSSIA/CHECHNYA: MOVES TO CONSOLIDATE ROLE OF ISLAM STEPPED UP

(26 Oct 1996) Russian/Nat

Separatist leaders in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya have stepped up moves to consolidate the role of Islam in the country following their de facto victory over Russian forces.

Following the departure of Russian troops, Chechnya has continued to experience a powerful Islamic revival, including the rise of traditional Sharia law and punishments.

And in a public display of ideological fervour Chechen soldiers took to the streets Thursday smashing bottles of vodka in accordance with a nationwide prohibition of alcohol.

The fighting might be over but the battle to rebuild Chechen society has only just begun.

After two years of war and the departure of Russian troops from Chechen soil the separatist rebels are now in a position to implement one of their most basic principles -- Islam.

In the village of Orekhovo the head of the Chechen separatists Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev leads the elders in prayer.

Orekhovo was among the settlements most heavily damaged by Russian shells.

Now those villagers who survived are coming back.

Not just to the remains of their homes, but also to the faith of their ancestors.

Months of war have sparked a powerful Islamic revival in the breakaway republic.

You can still buy hand grenades and automatic weapons at the capital Grozny's central bazaar.

But following the de facto victory of the separatists, vodka is now firmly off the market.

Chechen leaders have declared prohibition across the territory they control.

Shirvani Basayev is among the promoters of Chechnya's return to the laws of the past.

Islam, he believes, not ammunition, was the decisive factor in the Russians' defeat.

SOUNDBITE:
"Allah created us and Allah will take us away. He who created us knows what we need. On earth we try to think up laws, we change our constitutions daily, swapping full stops for commas... The Koran has remained unchanged for 1400 years. It is God's law. And God's law cannot be changed."
SUPER CAPTION: Shirvani Basayev, colonel, Chechen separatist forces

It is a faith shared by many of those who fought alongside Basayev.

The fragile peace in Chechnya seemed threatened this month by the ouster of the man who masterminded it, security chief Alexander Lebed.

The soldiers say they long for a permanent truce -- but are prepared for a renewal of hostilities.

SOUNDBITE:
"I am a warrior of Islam and of Allah. We are all sons of Allah. That (Alexander) Lebed was fired is a shame, but he alone didn't stop the war: he stopped it through Allah's help. But if the war starts again, we are ready to fight for another 20 years. Allahu Akbar!"
SUPER CAPTION: Adam, Chechen checkpoint commander

Islam was among the key tools of the separatist ideology when the war with Russia began in 1994.

But what was once just expedient politics has now taken on a life of its own.

Those fighters smuggled out of Chechnya to hospitals in the East brought back with them renewed faith in Islam.

Today, many Chechens are studying in seminaries in Arabia and Pakistan.

The rise of traditional "Sharia" law is a direct result.

The scars of war in Chechnya are visible at every turn.

Islam is increasingly the guiding force preparing the nation both for long-awaited peace -- or a return to the battlefields.

Yet the Islam of Chechnya remains far from militant fundamentalism.

Based as much upon national legend as the Koran, it represents more a search for lost identity than a cultural revolution.
They anticipate neither banishment from the workplace nor strict dress code.
SOUNDBITE:
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