Kadyrov dismisses claims of MP's involvement in Yamadayev murder

GROZNY, April 6 (RIA Novosti) - Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov on Monday rejected allegations by Dubai police that a Russian MP was involved in the March 28 assassination of former Chechen military commander Sulim Yamadayev.

On Sunday, Dubai police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim accused Adam Delimkhanov, a Russian State Duma deputy since 2007, of involvement in the murder of Yamadayev. Delimkhanov served as Chechnya's deputy prime minister in 2006-2007.

"The allegation by the Dubai police chief concerning Adam Delimkhanov's involvement in the assassination of Sulim Yamadayev is untrue and is of an obviously provocative nature primarily designed to tarnish the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Chechen Republic," Kadyrov said.

He said Delimkhanov was currently on a visit to Syria, meeting with Chechen students who are studying in the country's colleges and universities.

The Chechen parliament issued an angry statement earlier on Monday denouncing "the ungrounded accusations against a person known for his solid public position."

Delimkhanov has called the accusations provocative and said he is willing to cooperate with the Dubai police in the murder investigation.

Tamim also said on Sunday that Dubai police had arrested two suspects in Yamadayev's murder, Mahdi Lournia from Iran and Makhsud-Jan, who is believed to be from Tajikistan. He added that several others would be put on Interpol's wanted list.

Yamadayev, 35, a Hero of Russia who commanded the elite Vostok battalion in Chechnya, was shot on March 28 by a lone gunman in the underground parking lot of the Dubai apartment building where he lived.

Yamadayev was officially dismissed as Vostok commander last August over alleged involvement in the 1998 abduction and murder of a Chechen businessman. The battalion, which answered directly to the federal Defense Ministry rather than Chechen authorities, has since been disbanded.

The killing of Yamadayev is the sixth in a series of killings of Chechens in the past year.

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 either of the Yamadayev killings.