Two Russian cosmonauts and the first Malaysian in space left the orbiting International Space Station on Sunday to return to Earth, Russian mission control announced.

The Soyuz craft with Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who carried out experiments for Malaysia's Genome Institute, and Russians Yuri Yurtshikin and Oleg Kotov was due back at the Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan at 1037 GMT, the mission control press service said.

The Malaysian astronaut, whose trip was paid for by the Malaysian government, left on the mission on October 10 with American Peggy Whitson, the new commander on the space station, and a Russian Yuri Malenchenko.