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Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev Яндарбин Абдулмуслиман кант Зелимха
2nd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (acting)
In office April 21, 1996 – February 12, 1997
Vice President(s)	Aslan Maskhadov
Preceded by	Dzokhar Dudayev
Succeeded by	Aslan Maskhadov
Born	September 12, 1952 Vydrika, Soviet Union
Died	February 13, 2004 Doha, Qatar
Nationality	Chechen
Political party	Vainakh Democratic Party

Zelimkhan Abdumuslimovich Yandarbiyev (Chechen: Яндарбин Абдулмуслиман кант Зелимха, Russian: Зелимхан Абдумуслимович Яндарбиев) (September 12, 1952 – February 13, 2004) was a Chechen writer and a politician, including an acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (1996-1997).

Originally a literary scholar, poet and children's literature writer Yandarbiyev became a leader in the Chechen nationalist movement as the Soviet Union began to collapse. In May 1990, he founded and led the Vainakh Democratic Party (VDP), the first Chechen party, which was committed to an independent Chechnya. The VDP initially represented both Chechen and Ingush until their split after Chechnya's declaration of independence from the Russian SFSR.

In November 1990 he became a deputy chairman to the newly formed All-National Congress of the Chechen People, which was led by Dzhokhar Dudayev and which ousted the Soviet-era leadership. With Dudayev, he signed an agreement with Ingush leaders splitting the joint Chechen-Ingush republic in two. In the first Chechen parliament, from 1991-1993, Yandarbiyev headed the media committee. Since 1991 he served as Vice-President of the self-proclaimed republic.

During the 1994-1996 First Chechen War, Yandarbiyev had little connection with military operations, spending his time writing books on the independence effort. In April 1996, following the assassination of his predecessor Dzhokhar Dudayev, he became an acting President. Except for his personal bodyguards, he never had a military unit of his own. In late May 1996, Yandarbiyev headed a Chechen delegation that met Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin for peace talks that resulted in the signature of a ceasefire agreement on May 27, 1996.

Yandarbiyev stood in presidential elections held in Chechnya in February 1997 but was defeated by Aslan Maskhadov, a senior military leader, getting only 10 per cent of the votes. He took part of signing of the peace treaty in Moscow on May 12, 1997. The two fell out badly the following year, when Yandarbiyev was accused of being behind an assassination attempt against Maskhadov. In September 1998, Maskhadov publicly denounced Yandarbiyev, accusing him of importing the radical Islamic philosophy of Wahhabism and of being responsible for "anti-state activities" including anti-government speeches and public meetings, as well as the organisation of illegal armed groups. Yandarbiyev subsequently joined forces with the hard-line Islamist opposition to Maskhadov's rule.

Yandarbiyev was seen as a key figure behind the 1999 attack by Shamil Basayev's coalition of Islamist guerrillas on the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan [1] that led to the start of Second Chechen War in late 1999.

Yandarbiyev traveled abroad to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates and eventually settled in Qatar in 2001, where he sought to obtain Muslim support for the Chechen cause. He was believed to have been a key figure in the international network of Chechen separatist fundraisers in the Islamic world.^{[citation needed]} He was also a cause of considerable friction between Russia and Qatar, which refused to extradite Yandarbiyev despite an Interpol arrest warrant issued in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

He was mentioned by Russia on a United Nations Security Council's blacklist of al-Qaeda-related terrorist suspects and is said to have had contacts with the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.^[1][2] He was also accused by the Russian government of involvement in the October 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis, in which at least 130 hostages were killed in the storming by the Russian special forces.[2]

Main article: Assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev

On February 13, 2004, Yandarbiyev was assassinated when a bomb ripped through his SUV in the Qatari capital, Doha. Two of his bodyguards were killed as well, and his 12-year-old son Daud was seriously injured.

Two detained Russian intelligence agents were later convicted for murder by the Doha court.

• Vainakh

• Obiturary. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. Poet and writer turned Chechen separatist politician Chechen Times
• The Assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev: Implications for the War on Terrorism Jamestown Foundation