Isa Yamadayev, who lost two of his older brothers in assassinations linked to Ramzan Kadyrov, rejected on Friday reports that he had been forced to make peace with the Chechen president.
Sulim Yamadayev, a Hero of Russia who commanded the elite Vostok Battalion in Chechnya, was gunned down in Dubai on March 28, 2009, while Ruslan Yamadayev, a former member of the Russian parliament, was shot dead in central Moscow on September 24, 2008. Kadyrov has always denied any connection with the killings.
On Sunday, Isa announced he had normalized relations with Kadyrov. Isa said the conflict between them had been artificially provoked by the media, adding that he feels no distaste toward the Chechen president.
"I am aggrieved by several reports in the media aimed at discrediting the fact of the conciliation. I was incensed by comments from several sources saying that the reconciliation took place under pressure from the intelligence services and the Kremlin," Isa said.
"I want to swear in categorical form, that no kind of pressure was put on me or members of my family by the state authorities or executive agencies," he said, adding that the rapprochement occurred in the spirit of charity of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Kadyrov has also rejected reports that his meeting with Isa was organized by the intelligence services.
Both Kadyrov and Sulim Yamadayev were separatist militants in Chechnya who switched to Moscow's side during the second Chechen war. The Vostok Battalion that Sulim commanded answered directly to the Federal Defense Ministry and clashed on occasion with forces loyal to the Chechen president.
Sulim was shot in the chest with three bullets from a gold-plated gun in the car park of a luxury apartment complex in Dubai where he was living with his wife and children.
Isa had always denied reports his brother was killed in the shooting, and on Sunday he said his family had made the decision to turn off Sulim's life support system. Sulim was buried on Tuesday in Dubai.
Ruslan Yamadayev was a prominent opponent of Kadyrov, and in the months prior to the assassinations, Kadyrov was engaged in a bitter rivalry with the influential Yamadayev clan.
An attempt on Isa Yamadayev's life was made in July 2009.
GROZNY, August 27 (RIA Novosti)
