Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his condolences on Wednesday to the family of the late commander of a Russian Defense Ministry battalion in Chechnya, Sulim Yamadayev.
The wake for Sulim Yamadayev began on Tuesday in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya and will last until Thursday under Chechen traditions.
The commander was buried on Tuesday in Dubai, Sulim's brother Isa said.
Kadyrov visited the Yamadayev family's home where the wake was held.
"I have been to the wake and expressed my condolences, I also visited the deceased's mother, who was very moved," Kadyrov said. "She said that my arrival is a great joy for her, which can be compared to the return of her sons," he continued.
Isa said on Sunday he was ready to become Kadyrov's ally.
Yamadayev said that some media artificially provoke disrespectful relations between him and Kadyrov adding that he feels no distaste toward the Chechen president.
Sulim Yamadayev, a Hero of Russia who commanded the elite Vostok Battalion in Chechnya, was gunned down in Dubai on March 28, 2009. He was shot in the chest with three bullets from a gold-plated gun in the car park of a luxury apartment complex where he was living with his wife and children.
Until recently, Isa insisted that Sulim was alive but in coma. On Sunday, Isa said his family made the decision to shut down the life support system that was keeping Sulim alive.
Dubai officials said last year that Sulim was buried in a cemetery in the United Arab Emirates. Russian officials have so far not received a death certificate from Dubai.
Dubai police have accused Adam Delimkhanov, Kadyrov's close friend and a lawmaker in Russia's lower house of parliament, of ordering the assassination. Both strongly denied any link to the murder.
Both Kadyrov and Yamadayev were former militants who joined Russia's federal troops. Chechnya saw two separatist wars in the late 1990s-early 2000s. The Vostok Battalion answered to the Federal Defense Ministry and clashed on occasion with forces loyal to the Chechen president.
Sulim's brother, Ruslan Yamadayev, a former member of the Russian parliament's lower house, was gunned down in central Moscow in September 2008. He was a prominent opponent of Kadyrov, who denied any involvement in his killing.
An attempt on Isa Yamadayev's life was made in July 2009.
"[Isa] lost two of his brothers," Kadyrov said. "Those who are behind these crimes...wanted his death [also]," Kadyrov said.
GUDERMES, August 25 (RIA Novosti)
