Russians kill British citizen in Chechnya

A British citizen has been killed fighting for Islamic fundamentalists in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya.

Ottoman Larousi, whose sister lives in London, died at the hands of Russian special forces who discovered his hideout in the lawless rebel state.

They captured a second man, Yacine Behatia, who appears to have British travel documents.

Larousi, an ethnic Algerian, had travelled to Chechnya to join Mujahideen rebels on his French passport, but also had British citizenship.

Russian forces produced a blood-stained letter which he allegedly wrote to his sister, Fatima Hadaway, expressing disillusionment with the war, saying "this is not jihad" and asking her to ask two men at Finsbury Park mosque to send him his passport.

There is uncertainty over the authenticity of the letter, said to have been found with videos and documents showing the two men belonged to a group behind " terrorist acts on the territory of the Russian Federation".

It was produced by Russian forces, which called on Britain and other countries to stop "mercenaries"-going to Chechnya. Behatia is thought to be in Russian custody and has a passport with entry stamps showing he had travelled to Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and the EU before entering Chechnya.

The war-torn republic remains Russia's biggest problem, with repeated claims that foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda have been involved in fighting the huge Russian military presence.