Russian Consulate seeks details on assassination

Dubai: Diplomats at the Russian Consulate in Dubai are frustrated at not being given information on the assassination of former Chechen commander Sulim Yamadayev in Dubai last month, Gulf News learnt.

A source close to the Russian consulate has claimed that a high-ranking diplomat was not allowed to attend the Dubai Police press conference on Sunday, held to reveal details of the investigation.

Yamadayev, a prominent Moscow-backed Chechen, was shot in the back of the head on March 28 in the parking lot of the Jumeirah Beach Residence, where he was living. A decorated fighter, Yamadayev was at odds with Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, who is also backed by Moscow.

Dubai Police implicated Adam Delimkhanov, right-hand man and Kadyrov's cousin, who also serves as the deputy prime minister of Chechnya and is the Chechnya representative in Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

A Dubai Police official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak officially, confirmed that the Russian diplomat had not been allowed entry. He added that it was "made clear that it was a press conference and that only journalists were allowed".

Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, did not confirm the claim to Gulf News, but said: "It is known that there are channels and agreed upon principles and that diplomats have to follow official procedures by coordinating with the ministry of foreign affairs."

There was no official comment on the issue from the Russian Consulate in Dubai.

Tight security was in place at the press conference on Sunday, with journalists being made to go through identity checks and metal detectors.

The Russian source said that the diplomat was barred entry despite making his identity clear. The police source confirmed that Dubai Police knew that he was a Russian diplomat.

Russian diplomats in Dubai are also said to be frustrated at not being kept in the loop with the results of the investigation.

"Diplomats at the consulate are only keeping track of the case through the news, not through the police," said the source.

Dubai Police has however said a number of times that the law enforcement authority did not receive any cooperation from Russia or Chechnya during the investigation, despite sending requests a number of times.

Lt. Gen. Dahi said on Sunday: "Russia is also responsible for untying the knot of this crime."

He earlier said that Russian authorities were asked to provide more information on the suspects, but they did not respond.

The defendant Delimkhanov has denied any role in the murder, but said he is willing to cooperate with UAE authorities.

It is unclear whether Russia will extradite the suspected mastermind of the assassination.

Delimkhanov is a high ranking Chechen official who enjoys parliamentary immunity as member of the State Duma.

- With additional inputs from Reuters

'He is my brother & my right-hand man'

Grozny, Russia: Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader, yesterday rejected accusations by the Dubai Police that his close adviser masterminded Sulim Yamadayev's assassination in Dubai.

Dubai Police named Adam Delimkhanov, an adviser to Kadyrov, as the person who masterminded the murder. Delimkhanov has repeatedly denied any involvement.

"The statement by the head of the Dubai police... on the involvement of Adam Delimkhanov in the murder of Sulim Yamadayev is not based on any objective facts," Kadyrov said in a statement e-mailed to news agencies.

"It is a clear provocation which is aimed at discrediting Russia and the Chechen leadership," he said.

"I consider it necessary to note that Adam Delimkhanov is my close companion-in-arms, my friend, my brother and more than that, he is my right-hand man. So any statements against him, I take as statements against me," Kadyrov said.

Kadyrov, 32, has served the Kremlin by calming the mostly Muslim province, which has fought two separatist wars against Moscow since 1991.

But human rights activists have warned that Kadyrov has constructed an authoritarian system in Chechnya and that the Kremlin may one day find it hard to control the Chechen leader.

Kadyrov's spokesman has dismissed any suggestion that the killing of Yamadayev, once one of Chechnya's most powerful men, was linked to the Chechen president.

Yamadayev, a former rebel who switched sides and backed the Kremlin, had challenged Kadyrov for control of local security forces until last year, when he was dismissed from command of an elite battalion and forced to flee.

He was commander of the Vostok battalion, a unit of battle-hardened former rebels which was linked to Russia's powerful military intelligence agency, the GRU.

- Reuters