Family members in Dubai say Yamadayev alive - Russian daily

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - Sulim Yamadayev, the former commander of the Chechen Vostok battalion, has not died following an attack in Dubai over the weekend, a leading Russian daily reported on Tuesday, citing relatives.

Yamadayev's wife, Milana, and his younger brother, Isa, who are both in Dubai, told Kommersant that he is alive, though seriously wounded. A relative told RIA Novosti on Monday that Yamadayev was alive, although it was later reported that he died in hospital.

"Bullets entered his neck, shoulder and stomach, but no vital organs were touched. Sulim will live," Isa was quoted by the daily as saying after visiting his older brother in a Dubai hospital.

"He recognized us and was trying to tell us something, but his oxygen mask was in the way," he said.

Yamadayev's wife accompanied her brother-in-law to the hospital on Monday evening and also confirmed to the daily that her husband was alive, but in very serious condition.

Isa said that his brother had planned to visit a clinic in relation to stomach problems on Saturday morning when he was gunned down near the parking area of Jumeirah Beach Residence.

A Russian national has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the assassination attempt, the gulfnews.com Internet portal has reported.

Yamadayev was officially dismissed from his post as commander of the Defense Ministry's Vostok battalion last August over an alleged involvement in the 1998 abduction and murder of a Chechen businessman.

Sulim's brother Ruslan Yamadayev, a former member of the Russian parliament's lower house, was gunned down in central Moscow last September. He was a prominent opponent of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who has denied any involvement in the killing.

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