The Republic of Ingushetia in the Russian North Caucasus borders
on Georgia to the south. Its neighbours within Russia are
Chechnya and North Ossetia. The overwhelming majority of the
population is Muslim and clan links are an integral part of
society. The Ingush and Chechen peoples have close historical,
cultural and linguistic ties, although the Ingush have not
shared in the fierceness of the resistance to Moscow put up by
the Chechens over the past 200 years. Part of the Russian empire
since the early 19th century, Ingushetia was formally joined to
Chechnya under Soviet rule in 1936 when it formed around one-
fifth of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic within Russia.
Like the Chechens, the Ingush, despite their history of relative
loyalty to Moscow, were deported to Central Asia towards the end
of World War II by Stalin who accused them of collaborating with
the Nazis. They were allowed to return only in 1957 when
Khrushchev was Soviet leader. When Dzhokhar Dudayev came to
power as Chechen leader in 199