Turkish citizen Ali Soytekin Ollu was arrested during a joint operation of the Federal Security Service and Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia on the territory of Dagestan on 29 December 2005. He confessed he was part of Al-Qaeda representative Abu Havs' group from 2001 till 2005. In the prisoner's words, he served in the Turkish army in 1996-1997 and was recruited by Islamic extremists for terrorist activities in Chechnya. During a year Ali Soytekin was trained in a group of persons coming from Turkey in Pankisi gorge, where Abu Havs was at the time. The group included 35 members led by Turkish citizen Abu Zar.

Ali Soytekin was born in 1977 in Karasu, Sakaria province. Acording to the extremist's own testimony, he took part in hostilities against the federal forces in Chechnya in 2002 as part of Galayev's, Halilov's, Abu Havs' and Abu Zar's gangs. However, Dagestan Ministry of Internal Affairs did not confirm that the prisoner is a citizen of Turkey at that moment, reported Russian media.