Key ally demands Moscow apologise for plane crash

AZERBAIJANI President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia on Sunday of firing at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed and of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster, demanding that Moscow admit guilt.

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Aliyev made the accusation in an interview to state media at Baku airport four days after the AZAL plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people of the 67 people on board.

Azerbaijani officials have suggested the aircraft was hit by a Russian air-defence system as it tried to land in Grozny, capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

Aliyev's unusually forthright accusation of his country's traditional ally came a day after he spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin.