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Dubai Frees 2 in Yamadayev's Killing

Two men convicted in connection with the 2009 killing of former Chechen strongman Sulim Yamadayev were freed from prison last week and deported from Dubai, news reports said.

Maksudzhon Ismatov, a Tajik, was deported Wednesday night to his home country, and Iranian Makhdi Lorniya, who worked as Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's horse trainer in Dubai, was deported last Sunday, RIA-Novosti reported, citing a Dubai-based Tajik diplomat, Saidmukhammod Salikhov.

Yamadayev, 35, a Chechen rebel commander and a former Vostok battalion leader, was shot dead outside his luxury home in Dubai in March 2009. A Dubai court on April 2010 convicted Ismatov and Lorniya of carrying out the killing and sentenced them each to 25 years.

But a court reduced their sentences to 27 months, which ended this month, after Yamadayev's brother, Isa, patched up his differences with Kadyrov, whom he had accused of masterminding the attack.

Dubai has accused a relative of Kadyrov, State Duma Deputy Adam Delimkhanov, of masterminding the killing and issued an international arrest warrant for him. He and Kadyrov have denied involvement.

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