(MOSCOW) - The man who gunned down campaigning Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya is thought to be hiding in western Europe, Russian media reported on Tuesday, citing the chief investigator.

One media outlet, the Echo of Moscow radio station, quoted an additional source in the prosecutor's office as saying the suspect was hiding in Belgium and an extradition request had been made to Belgian authorities.

Speaking in Saint Petersburg, chief investigator Alexander Bastrykin said that "according to our information, the assassin is hiding in western Europe. We even know which country he is in," the RIA Novosti news agency reported, although he declined to specify the country.

The October 2006 murder of Politkovskaya, a prominent critic of the Kremlin, sparked outrage among Western governments and calls for Russia to address the issue of regular attacks on journalists.

On June 18 this year the investigative committee said it had wrapped up its case and three people had been charged in connection with the killing. A member of the FSB security service had also been charged with extortion and abuse of office in connection with the inquiry.

But the prosecutor said the suspected gunman, Rustam Makhmudov, remained at large.

Media coverage of the investigation has focussed on a suspected Chechen link to the murder, Chechnya being the province where Politkovskaya did much of her hard-hitting work.

However former colleagues have voiced dissatisfaction at the inquiry, saying much remains unexplained.

Contacted by AFP, the investigative committee of the prosecutor's office declined to comment on Tuesday's reports.

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