This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7984545.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Top Chechen 'behind Gulf murder' Top Chechen 'behind Gulf murder'
(about 24 hours later)
The authorities in Dubai have accused a senior Chechen official of being behind the apparent killing of a rival of the restive Russian republic's president. The authorities in Dubai have accused a senior Chechen official of being behind the apparent killing of a rival of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.
Police said Sulim Yamadayev was assassinated, but there is confusion over whether he actually died. Police said Sulim Yamadayev was shot dead on 28 March. However, there has been confusion over whether he died, with his brother saying he survived.
Two suspects were arrested, one of whom implicated Chechen Deputy PM Adam Delimkhanov, say police. Two suspects have been arrested, one of whom has implicated a Chechen member of Russia's parliament, Adam Delimkhanov.
Mr Yamadayev was once close to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov but fell out with him last year and fled Russia. Mr Delimkhanov rejected the allegations and accused police of incompetence.
"The deputy prime minister of Chechnya is wanted by the justice system of the UAE [United Arab Emirates] and six people are suspected of involvement in the murder," Dubai police said in a statement. Mr Yamadayev was once close to the president of Chechnya, but fell out with him last year and fled Russia.
"The crime ... is 100 percent of Chechen making and it's an operation of settling accounts." The apparent killing was the fourth of a prominent Chechen since September, when Mr Yamadayev's brother Ruslan was shot dead while driving in central Moscow.
Confusion over death The Chechen leader has denied any involvement in the killings.
They said Mr Yamadayev, who had been in Dubai on a Russian passport issued in the name of Sulaiman Madov, died instantly in the shooting in a car park outside his apartment on 28 March. '100% Chechen'
But there was some confusion about whether he had died. Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Dubai police chief Lt Gen Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said an Iranian and a Tajik connected to Mr Yamadayev's killing were in custody, and that four other suspects had fled to Russia.
Russian media later quoted family members as saying he was still alive and "out of danger", while other reports say he was buried on Wednesday. I am ready to co-operate with the investigation, ready to answer objective and clear questions, if the Dubai police have any Adam DelimkhanovState Duma deputy from Chechnya
A former rebel, Mr Yamadayev commanded the pro-Moscow Chechen authorities' elite Vostok battalion and was made Hero of Russia in 2005. He said one of the men in custody had admitted to receiving the weapon used from a guard of Mr Delimkhanov, a member of Russia's lower house of parliament and an associate of Mr Kadyrov.
But he fled to the UAE last year after a row with Mr Kadyrov. "Our investigation found [Delimkhanov] to be the mastermind of the assassination of Sulim Yamadayev," he said.
Opponents have accused Mr Kadyrov's henchmen of systematically removing any opposition to his absolute rule, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow. Gen Tamim said his force would seek Interpol's help in arresting Mr Delimkhanov and the four other suspects.
In January, Umar Israilov, a former bodyguard for Mr Kadyrov who had accused him of torture and kidnapping, was killed in Vienna. Then last month, a former deputy mayor of Grozny was shot dead in Moscow. "The crime... is 100% of Chechen making and it's an operation of settling accounts," he added.
Mr Delimkhanov said the accusation by the Dubai police chief was a "provocation" aimed at destabilising Chechen society, but that he was willing to answer investigators' questions.
"I am ready to co-operate with the investigation, ready to answer objective and clear questions, if the Dubai police have any," he told Russia's Interfax news agency by telephone.
Death queried
Last week, Dubai police said Mr Yamadayev had been in Dubai on a Russian passport issued in the name of Sulaiman Madov, and that he had died instantly in the shooting in a car park outside his apartment.
However, after news of his apparent death emerged, Mr Yamadayev's family members told the BBC and Russian media that he had survived, while other reports said he had been buried on Wednesday.
Mr Yamadayev was a separatist rebel leader during the first Chechen war of the mid-1990s who later switched to the Russian side, after Moscow sent troops back into the republic to retake control.
He then became commander of the elite Vostok security forces battalion, a unit of former rebels who have helped quell separatist resistance. In 2005, he was named a Hero of Russia, the top national honour.
But last year, Mr Yamadayev was dismissed after falling out with Mr Kadyrov. He later fled to Dubai after the killing of his brother.
Critics have accused Mr Kadyrov and his supporters of systematically removing any opposition to his rule.
In January, Umar Israilov, a former bodyguard for Mr Kadyrov who had accused him of torture and kidnapping, was killed in Vienna. The next month, a former deputy mayor of Grozny was shot dead in Moscow.