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SLUG: 2-313531 Russia Qatar (L-O)
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DATE=02/26/04 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-313531 TITLE=RUSSIA / QATAR (LONG ONLY) BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI DATELINE=MOSCOW CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Russia has protested the arrest of two of its security service agents in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. The men were detained for allegedly killing a former president of the breakaway region of Chechnya two-weeks ago. Bill Gasperini has more from Moscow. TEXT: Russia's acting foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, criticized the Qatari authorities for arresting the security agents, who have now been formally charged in the killing of former Chechen president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. In a statement, Mr. Ivanov said that three men were initially arrested by police using brute force, adding that Qatar violated international law by not immediately informing the Russian embassy of the action. One of the men was later freed, but the other two have been charged with murder, something Mr. Ivanov says can only be interpreted as a provocation. He strongly denied the men had anything to do with Mr. Yandarbiyev's death, saying the men were in Qatar conducting legal and analytical activities to counter international terrorism. The former Chechen leader died after an explosion ripped through his vehicle on a street in downtown Doha, the Qatari capital, after he left Friday prayers at a mosque. The 51-year-old Chechen died and his teenage son was badly wounded in the attack. Mr. Yandarbiyev briefly served as acting president of Chechnya in the mid-1990s before going into exile in Qatar four-years ago. Moscow has long accused him of involvement in terrorism as a leader of the separatist Chechen rebels who have been battling Russian troops for years. The Kremlin had tried repeatedly to have him extradited to Russia. Immediately after the bombing on February 13th, Russia's security service said it had nothing to do with the attack, suggesting Mr. Yandarbiyev was killed because of his alleged activities as the man in charge of financing the rebel movement in Chechnya. (SIGNED) NEB/BG/AWP/RAE |
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