Russia detains two Qatari athletes in diplomatic dispute

Russia has detained two athletes from the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar as they entered the country, adding to a diplomatic dispute that began with the arrest of two Russian secret agents for the assassination of an exiled Chechen leader, according to statements and news reports on Sunday.

In a statement, Qatar's Foreign Ministry said the athletes -- members of the national wrestling team -- were detained Thursday night as they traveled via Russia to an Olympic qualifying tournament in Serbia.

Two Russian agents in Qatar were charged last week in the death of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, the former president of the Chechen republic, who was killed Feb. 13 when a bomb destroyed his car in Qatar's capital, Doha.

The killing of Yandarbiyev, who was suspected of financing terrorist acts by separatists in the predominantly Muslim republic of Chechnya, threatens to become a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, with both issuing increasingly strident statements.

Igor Ivanov, Russia's acting foreign minister, called the arrests of the Russian agents a provocation, denying that they had any role in Yandarbiyev's death.

Russian officials have repeatedly demanded the release of the agents, who now face prosecution. A third agent who was also arrested but who worked under a diplomatic passport was released.

In Qatar, government-owned newspapers on Sunday denounced the Russian retaliation against the two Olympic aspirants, who were not identified, as an unwarranted step to use them as pawns to win the release of the agents.

"It seems the Russians are not satisfied with their scandalous assassination of Yandarbiyev but have added to that piracy and kidnapping of Qatari citizens," the government-owned Al Sharq said in an editorial, Reuters reported.

It was not clear why the detention of the athletes, evidently at a Moscow airport, had not become public sooner, though details of the case have been shrouded in murkiness on both sides.