IBN ALKHATTAB

/ Samir Saleh Abdullah Al-Suwailem

(1969–2002)

Guerilla leader and terrorist. Born on the Jordan–Saudi Arabia border to an Arab father andCircassianmother, he left theMiddle Eastto fight on the side of the mujahideen resistance in theSoviet-Afghan War. He is then thought to have participated on the Azeri side in theNagorno-Karabakhconflict, before joining theIslamistsin theTajik Civil War.He also claimed to have fought in Bosnia in defense of the Muslim population againstSerbia. During the firstChechen War, he engaged in propaganda, fund-raising, and guerilla fighting against Russian troops. During the conflict, he became a friend of theChechencommanderShamil Basayev. After the war, he established himself as the leader of a battalion of Arabs and other foreignMuslimfighters. He also came to the attention of Interpol and other international agencies as a supporter and perpetrator of acts ofterrorism. In 1999, al-Khattab and Basayev launched an incursion intoDagestan, which in conjunction with theapartment bombingsthought to be the work of al-Khattab, triggered the second Chechen War. He was killed on 20 March 2002, reportedly by a poisoned letter given to him by anFSB-employed hit man.

See alsoChechen Republic of Ichkeriya; Counterterrorism.