MOSCOW, October 8 (RIA Novosti) - An investigation into the murder of U.S.-born journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow has helped solve the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the chief investigator said in an interview Monday.

Politkovskaya, who gained international recognition for her strong criticism of the Kremlin and claims of state-backed atrocities against civilians in Chechnya, was gunned down in the entryway of her Moscow apartment building in October 2006.

"The same people who were witnesses or contacts of witnesses and suspects in Klebnikov's case have come to the focus of our attention," Petros Garibyan, the chief investigator in the Politkovskaya case, told the Novaya Gazeta daily.

"However, it's too early to talk about a clear connection between these two murders," he said, adding that Politkovskaya's murder was politically motivated and linked to her professional activities.

Garibyan said Politkovskaya's murder had been solved and investigators had identified the killer, but they had yet to determine who ordered the killing to "put the incriminating evidence beyond reasonable doubt."

According to the investigator, charges in the Politkovskaya case have been filed against 11 people, 10 of whom have been arrested, including several Chechens.

"But the list [of suspects] has not been closed," Garibyan said, adding that it was too early to name the mastermind behind Politkovskaya's murder.

"As to those who ordered the [Politkovskaya] killing, we have... some interesting theories, but that's all I can say at the moment," he said.

Two Chechens were also charged with killing Klebnikov, the editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition, in 2004, allegedly on orders from a Chechen warlord. However, they were acquitted in 2006. The Supreme Court ordered them to be tried again, but the trial has been suspended since March due to the failure of one of the defendants to show up in court.