Russian oil fund chief shot dead

The latest murder follows the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya

The director general of a Russian oil consultancy company has been killed in an apparent contract killing in Moscow, officials say.

Zelimkhan Magomedov, 50, was shot twice in the head, prosecutors told Itar-Tass news agency.

Ms Magomedov was the head of the National Oil Institute Fund, which seeks to develop small and medium-sized oil and gas producers.

The killing was described as a "contract hit" by officials.

"A criminal case has been opened over the contract hit," a representative of the city prosecutor's office told Tass.

Ms Magomedov's murder is the latest in a series of apparent professional killings in Moscow.

Last month, campaigning Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the city, while in September, Andrei Kozlov, the deputy chairman of Russia's central bank, was killed by gunmen.

The recent murders are reminiscent of a wave of assassinations which swept through the city in the 1990s, targeting businessmen and bankers.