MOSCOW (AP) — Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed for her criticism of Russian officials, an investigator who led the murder probe says.

Politkovskaya, a sharp critic of the Kremlin and its policies in Chechnya, was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building on Oct. 7, 2006. The killing drew global outrage and highlighted the dangers for journalists in Russia.

Investigator Petros Garibian was quoted Friday in the Kommersant business daily as saying the probe failed to determine who ordered her slaying, but he dismissed media claims of the possible involvement of Chechnya's Moscow-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who was the target of Politkovskaya's criticism.

"Politkovskaya's death was a liability for Kadyrov," Garibian said. "He was jockeying for the post of Chechnya's president and the high-profile killing of the journalist who criticized him was damaging rather than beneficial."

Russia's Investigative Committee said last month it has completed a probe of the suspected triggerman, Rustam Makhmudov, and four others. No date for their trial has been set.

Makhmudov's two brothers and a Moscow police officer were acquitted in 2009 of helping stage the killing, but Russia's Supreme Court overruled that acquittal and sent the case back to investigators.

Politkovskaya was killed on birthday of Vladimir Putin, who was serving his second presidential term at the time. That raised speculation about the possible involvement of authorities who were angered by Politkovskaya's exposure of atrocities in Chechnya.

Garibian said the date of the killing wasn't accidental because the perpetrators had been tracking the reporter for several days.

"I think the goal of the person who ordered the crime was not simply to take revenge on Anna Politkovskaya for her critical writing," Garibian said. "He wanted a high-profile action with the goal of scaring journalists, as well as the public and the government."

Russian officials in the past have hinted at the possible involvement of Putin's foes in Politkovskaya's killing.

Garibian said Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a Moscow police officer involved in the killing, told investigators he had heard from the triggerman's uncle, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, who is accused of organizing the killing, that the order had come from self-exiled mogul Boris Berezovsky and Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev. Garibian said that claim was not backed up by any evidence. Continued...