A Chechen machinegun wedding
DRIVING towards the wedding in the Pankisi Gorge, the roadblocks became more and more frequent. Most were flimsy affairs, built by mischievous-looking children. The last one was more serious, being put together by big, bearded men, their automatic weapons propped against a tree. “They're for later,” explained Zia, a black-clad Chechen widow, who was bringing a vast cake, along with your correspondent, to the wedding. “It's our custom to make the bridegroom pay before he can bring his wife home.”
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “A Chechen machinegun wedding”
From the July 22nd 2000 edition
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