MOSCOW - A media rights watchdog on Saturday urged Russia to publish details of its probe into the murder of a rights worker after the Russian press reported that suspects had been identified.

The murder of human rights worker Natalia Estemirova in the volatile Chechnya region, where she was a vocal critic of hardline Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, sparked international condemnation, and pledges that her killers would be caught.

For seven months, authorities have been silent about their efforts to solve the brutal slaying of our colleague and we call on them now to further publicise their progress, Nina Ognianova of the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.

Estemirova, 50, was kidnapped in July in Russia's volatile Chechnya region and shot. Her body was dumped in woodland in neighbouring Ingushetia.

News reports this week cited investigators as saying a suspect had been identified.

Rights workers say the slow investigation is symptomatic of Russia's endemic corruption and lawlessness.

Estemirova worked at the Russian human rights group Memorial.

Kadyrov, an ex-rebel turned Kremlin loyalist, is accused of torture and abductions by rights groups -- charges he has repeatedly denied.

CPJ says 19 journalists have been murdered for their work since 2000 in Russia, which it ranks as the fourth most dangerous country for reporters after Iraq, the Philippines and Algeria.

(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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