A top Russian security official has briefly visited Qatar, where two Russian spies are appealing life sentences received for killing an exiled Chechen rebel, the Security Council said on Friday. A brief statement by President Vladimir Putin's top advisory body said its secretary Igor Ivanov met Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, a son of Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, on Thursday. Sheikh Tamim and Ivanov, whom Putin has more than once dispatched abroad to handle sensitive political concerns, discussed "bilateral ties and international issues", the statement said. Relations between the two countries soured earlier this year after two Russian agents were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Gulf state for assassinating former Chechen separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.
Russia does not agree with the sentence and has said it will fight to bring the agents home. On Wednesday a Qatari court began hearing an appeal filed by the defence team but adjourned to July 29 after a one-hour closed session. Local newspapers quoted a former justice minister as saying the proceedings were expected to last until early next year. Lawyers familiar with the court proceedings say the country's top court could end up toughening it to the death penalty. The defence team says Putin needs to intervene personally with the emir. |