New Umarov Video Warns Russia Over North Caucasus

Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov in a video grab from last year

A new video purportedly by Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov has warned that Russia will have another year of "blood and tears" unless it withdraws from the North Caucasus territories.

The video, posted on the Islamist website www.kavkazcenter.com February 4, did not mention the airport bombing in Moscow last month that killed 36 people.

Umarov is seeking to form a pan-Caucasus state independent of Russia and governed by Islamic Shari’a law. His group has claimed various deadly bombings in the past.

Russia fought two wars against separatist militants in Chechnya in the 1990s, but the area has seen an increase in violence in recent years.

compiled from agency reports