Qatar
charged the two agents with the murder while a third Russian agent was
freed after a short arrest, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"The
two suspects arrested during the inquiry into the murder of Zelimkhan
Yandarbiyev have appeared before the prosecutor, who, after
questioning, brought charges of murder against them," a Qatari
spokesman was quoted as saying by the official QNA news agency.
The
report gave no details about the suspects.
The
51-year-old Yanderbiyev lived in Qatar "temporarily" for
nearly three years with his family, despite a Russian extradition
request and much to the Kremlin’s consternation.
After
his assassination, Chechen resistance fighters fingered the Russian
intelligence, which claimed it has anything to do with the murky plot.
Born
in 1952, Yanderbiyev became vice-president of Chechnya under
separatist president Dzhokhar Dudayev.
He
served as acting president of de facto independent Chechnya in 1996-97
and led its delegation at talks with then Russian president in 1996.
Yanderbiyev
was replaced by Aslan Maskhadov, who was elected Chechen president in
1997.
‘Hostile’
Act
Russia’s
acting foreign minister Igor Ivanov admitted the men were Russian
security agents.
He
told the Qatari ambassador in Moscow that they were "members of
the Russian special services... linked to the battle against
international terrorism".
"The
insinuation of the Qatar authorities cannot be seen as anything but a
hostile move," he said.
He
even went as far as saying that the two suspects had been subjected to
"rough physical force."
"Qatar's
authorities not only seized Russian citizens by force, but also did
not immediately inform the embassy of it, violating the most
elementary norms of international law," Ivanov fumed.
Russia
had come under heavy fire for a poor human rights record in Chechnya,
that includes random shootings, mass detentions and torture by its
soldiers.
In
1999, some 80,000 Russian troops poured into the Caucasus republic in
what Moscow called a lightning-strike "anti-terror
operation" but which has since degenerated into a bloody invasion
of the strategic republic.
The
Russian invading troops are facing an uphill struggle by Chechen
independence fighters.
Despite
the Russian denials, Yanderbiyev’s murder has coincided with a
flurry of diplomatic activity between Doha and Moscow.
A
senior Russian foreign ministry official, Mikhael Bogdanov, visited
Doha on February 20 and 21 and discussed bilateral relations with
Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, Qatari media
reported.
Official
sources said the visit followed a phone call from Ivanov to his Qatari
counterpart.
