The attempted assassinations against me were not accidental.

I always said that Wahhabism is unacceptable for the Chechen nation.

The people have already determined Chechnya’s status at the referendum – it is a unit of the Russian Federation. Its political status is not to be discussed any more.

I have to say that elections, even in the most peaceful region, always make the hardest time for regional state institutions, including security structures.

There is a rule of Sharia: If the enemy wants to suppress you, you are supposed to put up a strong resistance.

In 2001-2002, I told the president that the election was supposed to take place when the war was over, at a time when we could return to peaceful life. We agreed upon that. However, I...

We need a strong police force – the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Chechnya. We have to get rid of the traitors who have managed to penetrate into the law-enforcement department.

In the police force, two, three, five traitors are detected who are really working for someone else. When we cleanse the police of them, the problem will be simplified a lot. Terrorists will have no...

It goes without saying that the election is necessary. However, the situation in the republic is not simple because of the military regime.

Military troops were withdrawn from Chechnya on Dec. 31, 1996.

One has to nurture a new generation, to raise children in the spirit of Islam.

People took part in the referendum because they were tired of the war. They are afraid of talking about it out loud, but they have shown exactly where they stand: Yes, we want peace, and...

Second, they are very trusting people – I am saying this to you as a Chechen man. We trust everyone else, but we do not trust each other.

One has to work for years and decades, to conduct negotiations, to stand for positions and points of view, to jointly develop a civilized view on the administrative and state organization of Chechnya.

That is why I came to conclusion that the election must take place, so that the republic can have a government. If I were to say that everything will change for the better immediately, that...

Criminals were coming to Chechnya from all over the world – they did not have a place in their own countries. But they could live perfectly well in Chechnya.