Executive Summary
Religious diversity has had a dramatic impact on the development of the North Caucasus region. People do not identify primarily with either a national or international Islamic community. The fundamentalist Vakhabite community has become a major regional force during the past decade, despite numerous efforts to suppress its influence. Official suppression of the Vakhabites has resulted in the emergence of a massive Vakhabite network supported from abroad. Islamic radicals throughout the region, mostly Saudi and North African Arabs, have joined with the Khattab group to receive military training in camps which are operated to support Arab terrorists. Khattab was born in Saudi Arabia.
