Special report: Russian solves hostage crisis

A man arrested for involvement with the Chechen rebel group behind the school siege at Beslan, is shown on Russian TV, Sept.6, 2004. Terrorists attacked a school in North Ossetia and took over 1,000 students, parents and teachers hostage. 335 hostages, nearly half of them students, were killed and more than 700 wounded. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    BEIJING, Sept.7 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian television Monday ran footage of a man who looked like he was from the Caucasus being dragged by police, his arms handcuffed high behind his back, in pain and being accused of orchestrating the hostage killings in North Ossetia.

    ¡°This man personally took part in the attack, he was part of that gang, he took part in shooting. Today he will be charged,¡± Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky said in comments broadcast by Russia¡¯s Channel One television.

    ¡°They will all be punished for all the crimes they committed, and this man among others,¡± Fridinsky said.

    The suspect, whose name and nationality were not released, insisted in strongly accented Russian that ¡°By Allah, I have not shot¡± and ¡°By Allah, I have not killed.¡±

    Fridinsky said Sunday that according to the latest information, 32 terrorists had been involved and the bodies of 30 of them had been found, Interfax reported.

    Three suspects were detained Saturday in Beslan, Interfax reported, quoting unnamed law enforcement sources.

    A numb Russia observed the first national day of mourning for the more than 338 victims of the terrorist school seizure Monday, while foreign planes delivered medical supplies to this grief-stricken southern region neighboring Chechnya.

    In Beslan, people crowded around the coffins of children, parents, grandparents and teachers ahead of the 120 burials scheduled in the town cemetery and adjoining fields.

    At the school at the center of the tragedy, people lit candles and left shrines including children¡¯s notebooks, shoes, and bottles of water ¡ª symbolizing the water the hostages were denied over three days of terror.

    More than 700 people needed medical help after the crisis. Enditem

    (Shenzhen Daily)