LONDON, July 22 (Reuters)- A group of Nobel peace laureates called on Russia on Wednesday to find the killers of activist Natalia Estemirova, saying there was "nothing more dangerous than telling the truth in today's Russia".

Estemirova, who worked for rights group Memorial in the Chechen capital of Grozny, was abducted on July 15 as she left home. She was killed and her body dumped in neighbouring Ingushetia.

"Natasha (as she was known among friends and colleagues) was a gentle, loving woman and a brave truth-teller who was not afraid to speak out about torture, rape and disappearances in Chechnya. She paid for it with her life," they said in a letter published in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

The letter was signed by more than 100 prominent figures including Nobel Peace laureates Shirin Ebadi, Mairead Maguire, Jody Williams, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Desmond Tutu.

"We call on the Russian government to bring to justice both those who killed Natasha Estemirova and those who ordered her murder, and to end the killings of journalists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation," added the letter.

It was also signed by Elena Bonner, widow of the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, and former Czech president Vaclav Havel.

Memorial said on Monday it has suspended operations in Chechnya because of safety fears for its workers.

Estemirova's murder, the latest in a series of killings of journalists and human rights campaigners in Russia, has drawn international condemnation.

Chechnya and the nearby Muslim republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan are home to a simmering Islamist insurgency.

Human rights groups have repeatedly accused the authorities of serious abuses during their war on the insurgents, including extra-judicial killings, torture and illegal punishment.

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