Qatari prosecutors demanded the death penalty for two...

Qatari prosecutors demanded the death penalty for two Russian spies accused of killing a Chechen rebel leader. A Qatari court heard the closing arguments of the Gulf state's prosecutors, who said the Russians planted a bomb in Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev's car in February 2004, killing him and two others travelling home with him from a mosque. His 13-year-old son was also severely injured.
Moscow insisted the two men were unconnected to the attack on Yandarbiyev, who was briefly president of Chechnya after rebels defeated the Russian army in 1996. But Moscow acknowledged they were spies who were engaged in anti-terrorist work in Qatar.
"The prosecutor asked for the highest form of punishment, that they be sentenced to death," said Ilya Levitov, spokesman for law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, in Moscow.
"The judge said today that the verdict will be announced on June 30."
The trial threatened to cause a diplomatic breach between the two countries. Russian politicians had been outraged, particularly by defence allegations that confessions were wrung out of the spies with torture.
"The prosecution attempted to disprove that torture was used on our fellow-citizens," said a statement from the law firm.