Spain sends 'militant' to Russia

Spain has extradited to Russia a Chechen terror suspect accused of attacking interior ministry offices in the North Caucasus in June 2004.

The Russian chief prosecutor's office said Murat Gasayev was handed over to Russia on Wednesday.

It is the first such extradition from a European country, according to Vadim Yalovitsky, deputy head of the office's extradition department.

Mr Gasayev was arrested in the Spanish city of Valencia in December 2006.

Spain's El Pais news website reports that Mr Gasayev's extradition took place without any anti-torture guarantees.

Russian prosecutors say the police investigation established that in June 2004 Mr Gasayev took part in an attack on the interior ministry building in Nazran, in the Russian republic of Ingushetia.

A police officer died in the attack and seven were wounded, the Itar-Tass news agency reports.

Mr Gasayev stands accused of banditry, murder and illegal possession of arms. He could face life imprisonment.