Rebels With Conflicting Causes

Low whistles sound across the scruffy courtyard as the residents of Grozny doze through a sticky, mosquito-filled night. The men guarding this apartment building are signaling to one another that all is clear. They're not police or regular soldiers but lookouts for a Wahhabi Jamaat, an urban guerrilla group of about 20 men loyal to Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev. Unlike other Chechens fighting purely for their republic's independence, the Wahhabis want to create an Islamic state across the Caucasus and are almost fundamentalist in their outlook. They are deeply critical of the easygoing approach of more secular Chechen Muslims —...