Astemirov said that after the deaths of Sheikh Abdul-Halim and later Shamil Basayev, he sent a letter to the new Chechen rebel leader Dokka Umarov, asking him what he thought about declaring an Emirate that would replace the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
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Umarov agreed and appointed Astemirov head of the Caucasian insurgency's Sharia Courts, while his predecessor, the Chechen Sheikh Mansur (Amir Mansur/Arbi Yovmurzayev) had been relieved from this position because he was opposed to the creation of an Emirate, and urged saving Ichkeria as a symbol of the Caucasian resistance.