Suspect arrested

MOSCOW – The suspected triggerman in the 2006 killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been arrested, Russian officials said Tuesday.

The suspect, Rustam Makhmudov, was arrested in Chechnya and is to be transferred to Moscow soon, said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top criminal investigation body.

Politkovskaya was a sharp critic of the Kremlin and of its appointed strongman in Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Suspicions of government involvement in the killing were widespread, reinforced by the handling of the case since then.

Associated Press