DUBAI // At least four people are being held for questioning in the fatal shooting here Saturday of Sulim Yamadayev, a former commander of pro-Russian fighters in Chechnya. Yamadayev was killed in the car park of his apartment at Jumeirah Beach Residence. "We have detained four to five people for questioning over the killing," said Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the chief of Dubai Police. "I would like to clarify that they are all suspects and no one has yet been charged."
One of the men being held was a Russian national, he said; the others were Chechens. The Russian news agency Novosti later quoted Russia's consul general in Dubai, Sergei Krasnogor, as saying that seven people had been arrested. "The suspects are all currently at the prosecutor general's office in Dubai," Mr Krasnogor said, adding that all had Slavic surnames. Mr Krasnogor said he had been personally told about the killing by Gen Tamim and was due to meet with Dubai's chief prosecutor today to discuss the matter.
Gen Tamim disclosed more details of the attack, in which Yamadayev, reported to belong to a clan that switched to the Russian side after the 1994-96 Chechen war of independence, was shot in the head at about 4pm on Saturday in the presence of two bodyguards. "The victim was travelling with two people at the time of the attack," Gen Tamim said. "One of them was attacked by the killer who used the butt of the gun to strike him on the head before shooting the victim."
The other guard, he said, "was not hurt and he stood by". The bodyguards had not been hired from a security company, he said. Rather, they were regular companions who travelled with the victim. The killing was planned, he said, and "those responsible belong to an organised criminal network with foreign links". In a statement yesterday, Gen Tamim said Yamadayev had "retired" and had been living in Dubai for about four months. Police had positive leads in the investigation, he said, adding that he expected the Russian authorities to co-operate. But he noted that "the victim's brother was assassinated in Russia in September 2008 and the perpetrators have not yet been caught".
One of the victim's brothers was quoted by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass as saying that Yamadayev was still alive. "Reports that I have received his body are lies," he said, reportedly speaking by telephone from Dubai, where several members of the family are understood to be. "None of us have received the body. Sulim is alive, and I visited my brother in the hospital today and saw him myself. His condition has not worsened since yesterday."
Later, Gen Tamim dismissed the claim that Yamadayev, 36, had survived the attack. "I would never come out and say he was dead if he wasn't," Gen Tamim said. "His brother said he wasn't dead and I'm not sure why he said that. It could be because he was trying to keep it quiet for security or for unknown reasons." Gen Tamim said the victim's family had travelled to Dubai. "His brother is here and has received the body," he said.
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