Peter Lukimson, Israel. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The administration of the Israeli Chechen village of Abu-Gosh states that the leader of the Chechen Republic of Russia, Ramzan Kadyrov, will come to the village on March 23rd. It is expected that he will take part in unveiling of a new mosque built in the center of the village. It will be named after the late president of Chechnya Ahmat-Hadji Kadyrov who was killed in 2004, as well as the street where it is situation. Residents of the village say that the new mosque will be one of the most beautiful in the Middle East and it will be almost as important for the region as Al’Aqsa Mosque.
The authorities of Abu-Gosh reported that the mosque should have been unveiled on March 20th, but it was postponed, as Ramzan Kadyrov suddenly asked to postpone his visit for several days, probably due to events in Crimea.
It is expected that Kadyrov will arrive to Israel through the border terminal of Allenbi from Jordan. It is a terminal where an incident with Jordanian judge Raed Zaitar has happened recently (Have anti-Israel protests been settled in Jordan?)
The Israeli Foreign Ministry states that it doesn’t know anything about Kadyrov’s visit to the country and no meetings with top officials of the country are planned. However, it doesn’t contradict the information of Kadyrov’s possible visit to Israel, as the country is visited by Russian regional leaders often without any diplomatic protocol – to build business contacts or settle personal problems. The majority of such visits are not covered in the Russian media.
The village of Abu-Gosh is situated in 15 minutes to west from Jerusalem. In all guide books it is called “a Circassian village”, but most of the population is not Circassians, but Chechens. They have been living there at least for 400 years. Some historians believe that founders of Abu-Gosh were warriors of Salah ad Din who rescued Jerusalem from Crusaders in the 12th century.
