View source for Ilyas Akhmadov

{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
{{POV|date=January 2011}}{{Infobox person
| image =
| name = Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov
| native_name=Ilyas Xamzat Axmadkhant<br>Ильяс Хамзат АхмадКIант
| native_name_lang=ce
| occupation = Minister of Foreign Affairs
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|12|19|mf=m}}
| birth_place = [[Kazakh SSR|Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]], [[Soviet Union]]
}}
'''Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov''' ({{lang-ce|Ilyas Xamzat Axmadkhant/Ильяс Хамзат АхмадКIант}}, {{lang-ru|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 people|Chechen]] nation—including his family—was exiled by [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s government in 1944. The Akhmadovs returned to [[Chechnya]] in 1962. 

From 1978 to 1981 Ilyas Akhmadov studied in the [[Institute of technology|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, Chechen Republic|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 (military)|public affairs]] officer to [[Aslan Maskhadov]], the Chechen headquarters' [[Chief of staff (military)|chief of staff]]. In 1996 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 [[United Nations|UN]], [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]], [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|PACE]], [[European Parliament]], [[UNHCR]], [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]], the U.S. presidential administration and international [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]]s, 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 bombing]]s 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.

==See also==
*[[List of people granted political asylum]]

==External links==
;Articles by Akhmadov
* [http://www.themodernreligion.com/jihad/dirty.html Russia's Dirty War Against Chechnya], 19 April 2001
* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/29/talk_peace_in_chechnya/ Talk peace in Chechnya] in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', 29 September 2003
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53778-2004Dec9.html A Chechnya Plan: Talk] in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 10 December 2004
* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/02/24/russias_forgotten_war/ Russia's Forgotten War] in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'',  February 24, 2005

;Interviews with Akhmadov
* [http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/akhmadovinterview.pdf June 1999 interview about the first war]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/513143.stm Chechnya fears 'total destruction'] from [[BBC News]], November 9, 1999
* [http://www.rferl.org/specials/chechnya/akhmadov.asp Chechen Foreign Minister of Chechnya Ilyas Akhmadov Visits RFE] from [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]], 15 November 1999

;Stories on Akhmadov
* [http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/011400us-chechnya.html 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
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A3417-2003Dec15 Sacrificing Principle to Putin], on Akhmadov's asylum case, from ''[[The Washington Post]]'', December 16, 2003
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16175-2004Jun29.html Two-Faced Chechnya Policy], on Akhmadov's asylum case, from ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 30, 2004
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52978-2004Aug9.html Editorial supporting the granting of asylum to Akhmadov in the U.S.] from ''[[The Washington Post]]'', August 10, 2004
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38200-2005Mar15.html Story of Akhmadov's asylum in the U.S.], and [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A34174-2005Mar14 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 wars}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhmadov, Ilyas}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:American Muslims]]
[[Category:American people of Chechen descent]]
[[Category:Chechen politicians]]
[[Category:Chechen militants]]
[[Category:Chechen nationalists]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People of the Chechen wars]]
[[Category:Politicians of Ichkeria]]
[[Category:Soviet Army officers]]
[[Category:Chechen warlords]]
[[Category:Chechen people]]
[[Category:Russian exiles]]
[[Category:Russian expatriates in Kazakhstan]]