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Dubai Jails 2 in Chechen Commander's Murder

DUBAI — A Dubai court jailed two men for life on Monday for assisting in the killing of Sulim Yamadayev, a prominent foe of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Yamadayev, one of Kadyrov's top commanders until he fled Chechnya in 2008, was shot dead on March 28 last year in the underground car park of a luxury apartment block in Dubai with a gold-plated Makarov handgun.

Dubai police have accused a cousin of Kadyrov, State Duma Deputy Adam Delimkhanov, of masterminding the killing. Delimkhanov has denied involvement.

Russian analysts said Yamadayev's death, one of a string of recent high-profile killings in Dubai, removed one of the last remaining powerful opponents of Kadyrov's increasingly strong control over Chechnya.

Makhsood Jan Asmatov of Tajikistan and Mehdi Taqi Dahuria of Iran were both convicted of aiding and abetting the murder.

Dahuria had been accused of monitoring Yamadayev from his arrival at Dubai's airport to his house and providing his address and the murder weapon to the killers. Prosecutors said Asmatov also monitored Yamadayev. Dahuria's lawyer said he would appeal.

Dahuria was a horse trainer for Kadyrov's racehorses in Dubai.

Yamadayev fought against Russia in the first Chechen war of 1994-1996 in which Moscow suffered a humiliating defeat.

After changing sides together with Kadyrov, he became the commander of the Vostok battalion, consisting of battle-hardened former rebels who played a key role in subduing large-scale armed resistance to Russian rule. In 2005 Yamadayev was named a "Hero of Russia."

Yamadayev challenged Kadyrov for control of the local security forces until 2008, when he was dismissed from his command post and forced to flee. He was the fifth Chechen living abroad to be killed in the space of six months.

Four other suspects in the case are wanted by Dubai police, including Delimkhanov, who has been a Duma deputy with the United Russia party since 2007.

Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Delimkhanov last year, although Russia's Constitution bans the extradition of Russian nationals for crimes committed abroad.

In 2008, Yamadayev's brother Ruslan, also a former commander in Chechnya, was gunned down in a busy central Moscow street. Kadyrov at the time denied involvement and said the killers wanted to discredit him and destabilize Chechnya.

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