'German prosecutors to probe Russian killer case'

Berlin: German prosecutors in charge of intelligence cases are due to take over an investigation into the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander by a Russian national in Berlin, German media reported on Tuesday.

Despite Russian denials, some German politicians and media have blamed Moscow for the assassination of 40-year-old Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin's Kleiner Tiergarten park on August 23.

Khangoshvili was shot twice in the head at close range in an execution-style killing by a man who was reportedly seen by witnesses throwing a stone-laden bag with his gun into the river.

German police shortly afterwards arrested the man, who has been named officially only as Vadim S.

"The Federal Prosecutor's Office suspects Russian state agencies of having commissioned the murder," Der Spiegel said, adding that federal prosecutors were preparing to take over the case "in the coming days". The Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily and ARD television also reported federal prosecutors would step in this week.

The killing has been compared to the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Britain last year, which London blamed on Russian intelligence.

Earlier it was reported how the Russian secret services -- or the regime of Chechen President Kadyrov -- may have been involved in Khangoshvili's killing.