MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - An ex-associate of the leader of a south Russian Caucasus region was jailed for 17 years on Wednesday over the murder of seven men in a business dispute, media said on Wednesday.

Ali Kaitov, former son-in-law of Mustafa Batdyyev, leader of the Karachayevo-Cherkassia region, was convicted of organising murders carried out by his guards, who were jailed for life. The court said he wanted to obtain their shares in a chemical plant.

Discovery of the businessmen's mutilated bodies in a ravine in 2004 sparked noisy daily protests by relatives in Cherkessk, capital of one of a patchwork of small and volatile southern regions that includes Chechnya.

The disturbances underscored Moscow's difficulty in asserting control in regions where authorities, business and organised crime are often linked.

"The court decided that the guilt of the accused had been fully proved," RIA agency quoted a court official as saying.

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