Qatar hands over Russia prisoners

Yanderbiyev's murder sparked a diplomatic row

Qatar says it has agreed to hand over to Moscow two convicted Russians to serve out the remainder of their life sentences in their homeland.

A Qatari foreign ministry official did not name the Russians when he spoke to the Gulf state's official news agency.

But the men are likely to be two intelligence officials found guilty of murdering an exiled Chechen rebel leader in a February bomb attack.

The case caused a diplomatic row between Russia and Qatar.

The unnamed ministry official told Qatar News Agency the men were being transferred back home to serve out their sentences in their homeland at Russia's request.

Russia accused

Zelimkhan Yanderbiyev - who briefly became president of Chechnya in 1996 - was killed by a car bomb as he left a Doha mosque after prayers.

Two bodyguards also died and his son was injured in the attack.

Russia denies involvement in the killing and insists the two agents jailed for the killing were in Qatar to gather anti-terrorism intelligence.

But the Qatari court which sentenced the two men to life imprisonment in June said they had been acting on orders from the Russian leadership.

Russia had been seeking Yanderbiyev's extradition on charges of terrorism and links to al-Qaeda.

The case shocked Qatar - a tiny oil-rich state, closely allied to the US, which prides itself on its low crime rate and tight security.