Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead outside her apartment two years ago [AP]

Murad Musayev, a lawyer in the trial of three men charged in the killing, said prosecutors had identified "a politician" inside Russia - without naming the suspect - of ordering the killing.

The allegations contradict suggestions by Russian authorities that the killing was the work of a Kremlin enemy acting from abroad.

Colleagues from the newspaper where Politkovskaya worked have alleged that authorities want the trial,  partially opened to the media on Tuesday, held behind closed doors so that embarrassing details about the investigation are not made public.

The prosecution had said it wanted the court closed to the media because of the possibility that it might hear evidence from a state security agent who is being tried alongside the three suspects, on charges unrelated to Politkovskaya's murder.

Judge criticised

Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov, brothers from Chechnya, are accused of helping arrange Politkovskaya's murder along with former policeman Sergei Khadzhikurbanov.

The trial of the three men, who all deny the charges, appeared in disarray on Tuesday after the prosecution demanded that Yevgeny Zubov, the judge, be dismissed from the case.

Musayev said that prosecutors had asked for Zubov to be removed after he lifted his own ban on media covering the trial.

"They consider that various organisational questions are having an influence on the judge's opinions," Musayev said.
 
Karina Moskalenko, a lawyer for the Politkovskaya family, also confirmed prosecutors had applied for the judge to be taken off the case.

The request to remove Zubov was made during a chaotic hearing when journalists were first barred from the courtroom, then later let back in.

Journalists were then told to leave again so the court could discuss procedural issues.

The judge also told the court he was dismissing one of the jurors, Yevgeny Kolyesov, for breaking rules barring discussion of the case in public.

The move came after the juror gave a radio interview last week challenging the judge's decision to exclude the press.

Kremlin critic

Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of the Kremlin, was shot dead outside her apartment two years ago, causing an outcry in the West over Russia's commitment to press freedom.

A 48-year-old mother-of-two, Politkovskaya had reported on human rights abuses in Russia's turbulent Chechnya region and elsewhere and had received numerous threats.

The trial of the three alleged accomplices in her murder is widely viewed as a test of Russia's justice system, which in the past has failed to put the main suspects behind bars in several politically charged murder cases.

Politkovskaya's family says the investigation is incomplete because the man they suspect of killing her, Rustam Makhmudov, is on the run and has not been charged.

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