Russian prosecutors appeal US editor murder verdict

MOSCOW, May 15 (Reuters) Russian prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to overturn a jury's decision to acquit two men charged with murdering a US journalist two years ago, local news agencies reported today.

Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was shot four times as he left his office in July 2004.

Murders in Russia -- especially assassination-style killings like Klebnikov's -- often go unsolved.

Prosecutors said Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev, both from the turbulent Chechnya region, killed Klebnikov on the orders of a suspected organised crime boss who was offended by a book Klebnikov had written about him.

The defendants denied all the charges. A jury sitting in Moscow City Court acquitted them on May 5.

''Dmitry Shokhin, a prosecutor's representative, has submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court, which asks for the verdict to be cancelled and the case to be sent for retrial,'' Itar-Tass quoted a Moscow City Court spokesperson as saying.

At the time, Shokhin said there had been ''flagrant'' procedural violations during the trial.

Klebnikov's family have said they accepted the jury's verdict and urged police to work to track down the real killer. The United States has also been pressuring Russia to solve the crime.

REUTERS SHB ND1444