Isaeva: kidnappings in Dagestan are made to assess potentials of Muslim communities

Kidnappings in Dagestan are committed not so much with the aim to liquidate some particular person, but sooner to assess the readiness of the respective Muslim community to resolute actions after disappearance of its member, and to further aggravate the situation in the republic. This is the opinion of Nadira Isaeva, editor-in-chief of the Dagestan newspaper "Chernovik".

"In Derbent, Sirazhudin Shafiev was kidnapped; a couple of weeks earlier the same was done with his neighbour Emirali Magomedov. These person had influence and were respected by the Salafite youth of Derbent - active and lively youth. For example, Emirali took part in negotiations on conflict-settling after a mass fight in the Old Mosque of Derbent in 2005 with participation of Shiites, Sunnites and Salafites. Both of them were repeatedly searched and brought to the local OVD (Interior Division) after certain events," Nadira Isaeva said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In her opinion, these kidnappings of Salafite leaders have several aims. "Firstly, they are sort of 'cutting heads' by killing potential leaders. It's a sort of prophylaxis. Secondly, when Shafiev was kidnapped, and a couple of hours later some 500 persons rally in protest, for those who analyze the situation - it's a good was to assess and reveal the potential strength of Salafite supporters, the level of their mobility and readiness to power or non-power actions," Ms Isaeva has marked.

"People who will go out to rallies, revolted by kidnappings, will soon conclude that peaceful methods - rallies, etc. - bring no fruit. The western methods - protest actions and assemblies, which have effect there, - don't work here. Thus, for the most radical part it will mean the following: we need take arms in hand, and only violence can help here," she has concluded.

However, as Nadira marked, we cannot compare Dagestan with Chechnya in kidnapping issues. "Dagestan is still kept in front of some threshold and was not dragged into massacre," she has emphasized.