July 19th 2003 · Prague Watchdog / Ruslan Isayev

Police operation „Fatima“ brings first "results"

Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus – In southern Russia the law enforcement bodies are carrying out an operation named Fatima. Young women who might become potential kamikadze, particularly those who lost their relatives during fighting and those dressed in a Muslim manner, are in the focus of the police attention.

On Tuesday, Ayshat Saydulayeva, 34, was arrested in her home village of Komsomolskoye in the Urus-Martanovsky district. Her neighbors say that the arrest resembled a special operation aimed at seizing a particularly dangerous criminal. The woman was taken to the military command post in the Urus-Martanovsky district and later transported to the Russian military base in Khankala. Her further whereabouts are not known.

Saydulayeva was accused of contacts with the guerillas as photos of members of the Chechen resistance were allegedly found with her. However, the pictures were taken after the first war in Chechnya (1994-96) when almost every third Chechen man wore a uniform. Other than that there were no other reasons for the woman´s arrest, people from the village say.

Saydulayeva cared for a children group organized by one of the international humanitarian organizations operating in the region.

Due to the "Fatima" operation the situation at checkpoints throughout Chechnya has changed as well. Members of the federal military and special services thoroughly search almost every passenger car. No one is spared, be it an elderly woman or a schoolgirl. All the women´s personal belongings and documents are carefully checked.