Until the attack on May 21st, it was generally thought that the portly, balding, 66-year-old Mr Hadi, a former military man from the south who has often been portrayed as shy and unassertive, had been doing rather well.
On his return to Sheremetyevo, to reach his departure gate the visitor must negotiate a bewildering series of queues, starting with one to get into the building: if he is unassertive, he will still be standing in one of them when his plane takes off.