DOHA, 25 March 2004 — Qatar expelled a Russian diplomat yesterday, one month after he and two other Russians were detained in Doha over the assassination of Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in the Gulf state.
His expulsion was an apparent swap for two Qataris held in Moscow in retaliation for the arrest of the three Russians, including First Secretary Alexander Fetisov, diplomats said.
“The Foreign Ministry sent an official memorandum on Tuesday to the Russian Embassy in Doha and informed (it) that First Secretary Alexander Fetisov was not desired and had 24 hours to leave the country,” a Qatari Foreign Ministry official said.
The official, quoted by the Qatar News Agency (QNA), gave no further details and the Russian Embassy declined to comment.
News of the diplomat’s return to Moscow came hours after Russia freed two Qatari wrestlers. It had arrested them the day after the two Russians in Qatari custody were charged with involvement in the car blast that killed Yandarbiyev.
Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russia’s ambassador in Qatar as saying the diplomat had been returned due to recent diplomatic efforts, adding he had been in Qatar since January but was detained in February with two other Russians.
Fetisov had stayed in the embassy compound after his release, Tass said. Last month a Qatari Interior Ministry official said one of the three suspects had been freed as he had a diplomatic passport.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in Moscow: “The first secretary of the embassy is coming back home. In relation to the other two people, every effort is being made to bring them home.”
The Kremlin press service said on Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani had discussed the development of Russian-Qatari relations by telephone.
