View source for Akhmad Kadyrov

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2012}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
| name=Akhmad Kadyrov<br/>Ахмат Кадыров
| nationality=[[Chechen people|Chechen]]
| image=Akhmad Kadyrov.jpg
| imagesize=215px
| order=1st [[President of the Chechen Republic]]
| term_start=5 October 2003
| term_end=9 May 2004
| predecessor='''Position created'''
| successor     = [[Alu Alkhanov]]
| birth_date    = {{Birth-date|df=yes|23 August 1951|23 August 1951}} 
| birth_place   = [[Karaganda]], [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]], [[USSR]]
| death_date    = {{death-date|df=yes|9 May 2004|9 May 2004 }} (aged 52)
| death_place   = [[Grozny]], [[Chechen Republic]], Russia
| spouse        = Ayman Nisievna Kadyrova 
| children      = 4
| party         = Non-Partisan
| vicepresident =
| profession    = [[Cleric]]
| religion      = [[Islam]] ([[Sufism]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Chechnya: Kadyrov Uses 'Folk Islam' For Political Gain|url= http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1079237.html|newspaper=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|author=Liz Fuller|author2= Aslan Doukaev| date=December 2007}}</ref>)
| awards        = {{Hero of Russia}} [[File:Orden of Friendship.png|40 px|link=Order of Friendship]]
}}

'''Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Ахмат Абдулхамидович Кадыров}}; {{lang-ce|Къадири lабдулхьамидан кlант Ахьмад-Хьажи}};  23 August 1951&nbsp;– 9 May 2004), also spelled '''Akhmat''', was the Chief [[Mufti]] of the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]] in the 1990s during and after the [[First Chechen War]]. At the outbreak of the [[Second Chechen War]] he switched sides, offering his service to the Russian government, and later became the [[President of the Chechen Republic]] from 5 October 2003, acting as head of administration since July 2000.

On 9 May 2004, he was assassinated by Chechen Islamists in [[Grozny]], using a bomb blast during a [[World War II]] memorial [[victory parade]]. His son, [[Ramzan Kadyrov]], who led [[Kadyrovtsy|his father's militia]], became one of his successors in March 2007 as the [[President of the Chechen Republic]].

==Early life==
Akhmad (or Akhmat) Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov was born in [[Karaganda]] in the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]] on 23 August 1951 to a [[Chechen people|Chechen]] family that had been expelled from Chechnya during the [[Great Purge|Stalinist repressions]]. In April 1957, his family returned to [[Shalinsky District, Chechen Republic|Shalinsky District]] of the [[History of Chechnya|Chechen-Ingush ASSR]]. In 1980, he started studying Islam at [[Mir-i Arab Madrasah]] in [[Bukhara]], and followed by studying at [[Tashkent Islamic University|Islamic University]] in [[Tashkent]], Uzbekistan, from 1982 to 1986. In the early 1990s, he returned to Chechnya, and founded the Islam Institute in the village of [[Kurchaloy]].

===First Chechen War===
Following the Chechen [[declaration of independence]], he became a supporter of separatist president [[Dzhokhar Dudayev]]. Kadyrov fought prominently in the [[First Chechen War]] on the Chechen side as a [[militia]] commander.<ref name="bowker">{{cite book|last=Bowker|first=Mike|title=Chechnya: From Past to Future|editor=Richard Sakwa|publisher = Anthem Press|location=London |year=2005|edition=1st|pages=223–38|chapter=Western Views of the Chechen Conflict|isbn=978-1-84331-164-5}}</ref> In 1995, he was appointed Chief [[Mufti]] of [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]]. Following the outbreak of violence between Moscow and Chechen separatists, Kadyrov declared that "Russians outnumber Chechens in many times, thus every Chechen would have to kill 150 [[Russians]]."<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/08/09/007.html The High Cost of Job Security] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821230223/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/08/09/007.html |date=21 August 2006 }}, ''The Moscow Times'', 8 September 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-05/10/content_329330.htm Profile: Akhmad Kadyrov], ''China Daily'', 10 May 2004</ref>

===Second Chechen War===
[[Image:Akhmad Kadyrov and Vladimir Putin.jpg|thumb|left|Akhmad Kadyrov and [[Vladimir Putin]].]]
While the first war was mainly fought for nationalism, after the ''de facto'' independence of [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Ichkeria]], much of the Chechen forces were [[jihad]]is, such as the [[Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya]].

Kadyrov, as Chief Mufti, was critical of [[Wahhabi]]sm, to which many of the foreign fighters adhered.  Kadyrov – a leading figure in the resistance movement – decided to abandon the insurgency in 1999 and offered his support to Russian federal forces in [[Second Chechen War]]. [[Aslan Maskhadov|Maskhadov]] immediately fired him from the Chief Mufti chair, although this decree was never accepted by Kadyrov, who abdicated himself a few months later due to his civilian chairman career. According to [[James Hughes (political scientist)|James Hughes]], Kadyrov's U-turn may have been motivated partly by personal ambition and partly by a concern with the desperate condition of the Chechen population, and was also driven by a fear of the growing sectarian Wahhabi influence on the insurgency.<ref name="hughes">{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=James|title=Chechnya: From Past to Future|editor=Richard Sakwa|publisher=Anthem Press|location=London|year=2005|edition=1st|pages=265–288|chapter=The Peace Process in Chechnya|isbn=978-1-84331-164-5}}</ref>

After the Russian forces seized control over Chechnya in July 2000, Kadyrov was appointed acting head of the administration by the Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/787811.stm Russia appoints Chechen leader], BBC News, 12 June 2000</ref> On 5 October 2003, he was elected the first [[President of Chechnya]]. In this position, he remained mainly pro-Moscow. He also advocated numerous [[amnesty]] campaigns for former rebel fighters, who were allowed to join Chechen police and [[Kadyrovtsy|loyalist militia]] forces if they surrendered. His chief personal [[bodyguard]] was [[Movladi Baisarov]]. Reportedly, there were at least a dozen assassination attempts against him before the final one.

==Death and legacy==
On 9 May 2004, an explosion ripped through the VIP seating at the Dinamo football stadium during a mid-morning [[Victory Day (Eastern Europe)|Soviet Victory Day]] [[parade]] in the capital city of [[Grozny]], instantly killing Akhmad Kadyrov. Two of his bodyguards, the Chairman of the Chechen State Council, a [[Reuters]] journalist, and as many as a dozen others were also killed (a later report stated that more than 30 people had died).<ref>[http://www.khaleejtimes.com/darticlen.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2008/July/theworld_July1590.xml&section=theworld&col= Bodyguards foil assassination of Chechen leader: report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080805033856/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/darticlen.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2008/July/theworld_July1590.xml&section=theworld&col= |date=5 August 2008 }}, AFP, 29 July 2008</ref> Some 56 others were wounded, including [[Colonel General]] [[Valery Baranov (soldier)|Valery Baranov]], the commander of Russian forces in Chechnya, who lost a leg in the explosion. The bomb was said to have been built into the concrete of a supporting column during recent repairs. The Islamist Chechen rebel leader [[Shamil Basayev]] later claimed that he had paid $50,000 for the attack.<ref>{{cite news |title=$50,000 Bounty in Chechen Blood Feud |author= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/world/europe/17briefs-002.html |newspaper= The New York Times|work= |date=17 June 2006}}</ref>

Akhmad Kadyrov had four children, two daughters (Zargan and Zulay) and two sons. The older son, Zelimkhan Kadyrov, died on 31 May 2004.<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=26597 Eldest Son Of Akhmad Kadyrov Dies], The Jamestown Foundation, 2 June 2004</ref> The younger son, [[Ramzan Kadyrov]], led [[Kadyrovtsy|his father's militia]] and was appointed prime minister and president of Chechnya in March 2007.

==See also==
*[[Kadyrovtsy]]
*[[Politics of Chechnya]]

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Akhmad Kadyrov}}
*[http://www.amina.com/article/intkad.html Akhmad Kadyrov: Had I been the dictator of Chechnya] by [[Anna Politkovskaya]], ''[[Novaya Gazeta]]'', 22 March 2002
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3160962.stm Obituary: Akhmad Kadyrov], [[BBC News]], 9 May 2004
*[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/may/10/guardianobituaries.russia Obituary Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president widely seen as Moscow puppet], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 10 May 2004
*[http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article38461.ece Obituaries: Akhmad Kadyrov, Russian-backed President of Chechnya], ''[[The Independent]]'', 11 May 2004
*[http://www.economist.com/people/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2683886 Obituary in brief: Akhmad Kadyrov, president of Chechnya], ''[[The Economist]]'', 19 May 2004

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{{s-off}}
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{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Chechen Republic]]|years=2003–2004}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alu Alkhanov]]}}
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{{Chechen wars}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Kadyrov, Akhmad}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Assassinated Chechen politicians]]
[[Category:Chechen field commanders]]
[[Category:Chechen warlords]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Russian Federation]]
[[Category:Russian imams]]
[[Category:Unsolved murders in Russia]]
[[Category:People from Karaganda]]
[[Category:People murdered in Russia]]
[[Category:People of the Chechen wars]]
[[Category:Politicians of Ichkeria]]
[[Category:Presidents of Chechnya]]
[[Category:Russian Sufis]]
[[Category:Russian Muslims]]
[[Category:Russian Sufi religious leaders]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Friendship]]
[[Category:Russian people of Chechen descent]]
[[Category:Chechen people]]
[[Category:Filmed assassinations]]