DUBAI // Intrigue continues to surround Sulim Yamadayev more than a year after he was shot in the head in the car park of his apartment block at Jumeirah Beach Residence.
The investigation into the 36-year-old former Chechen warlord's death in March last year turned up a gold-plated 9mm handgun and a hand-drawn map of his parking area, which was found on a kitchen counter in the home of one of the suspected assassins.
According to the Dubai Police, Yamadayev survived 19 attempts on his life before moving to Dubai.
Yamadayev was seen as a traitor by many Chechens and either a "hero" or "wanted man" by the Russians.
Moscow gave its "full attention" to his murder. Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, was quoted as saying: "There can be no other way … when we are talking about a citizen of our country, much less a hero of Russia."
Yamadayev moved to Dubai with his wife and six children four months before he was killed, a move interpreted to have been his retirement from a violent past.
Born in 1973, the business graduate student put his career on hold and joined his four brothers in the fight for Chechnya against the Russians in the 1994-1996 war of independence. Moscow suffered a major defeat and had to pull out of the separatist southern province. The Yamadayev clan then switched sides to fight alongside federal Russian troops sent back into the country by Vladimir Putin in 1999.
The former Chechen separatist became the commander of the Vostok battalion, a unit of battle-hardened former rebels that played an important role in subduing a large-scale separatist resistance movement.
Yamadayev led the battalion after his brother, Dzhabrail, was killed by a car bomb in 2003. He and another brother, Ruslan, were awarded "Hero of Russia" medals by the Kremlin in 2005. In September 2008, Ruslan was gunned down in Moscow. Yamadayev was dismissed from the military in the same year amid rivalry with the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and Russian police issued a warrant for his arrest over the kidnapping of a Chechen businessman in 1998. Despite the warrant, he continued to fight within the Russian army in the war with Georgia in 2008.
The circumstances surrounding his death remain mysterious.
Another of Yamadayev's brothers, Isa, insisted he survived the gunshot and was recovering in a Russian hospital. However, Dubai Police confirmed the death and burial two days later at Al Qouz cemetery. Five months later, Isa survived his own assassination attempt when he was shot in the back by a man visiting his Moscow apartment.
Police believe that nine men were involved in the murder of Sulim Yamadayev. They include the two men who had their life sentences cut to three years by a Dubai court, as well as Adam Delimkhanov, the former deputy prime minister of Chechnya and a current Russian member of the state parliament, or Duma.
rghazal@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEjari%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYazeed%20Al%20Shamsi%2C%20Fahad%20Albedah%2C%20Mohammed%20Alkhelewy%20and%20Khalid%20Almunif%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPropTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESanabil%20500%20Mena%2C%20Hambro%20Perks'%20Oryx%20Fund%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 2 (Willems 25', Shelvey 88')
Manchester City 2 (Sterling 22', De Bruyne 82')
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
The years Ramadan fell in May
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.