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Russia Arrests 2 in Deadly School Seizure
 Authorities have detained two residents of the southern province of Ingushetia on suspicion of being linked to terrorists who held more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in September, officials said Thursday. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the school seizure, which ended in gunfire and explosions, killing more than 330 hostages. Nikolai Shepel, Russia's deputy prosecutor general and head of the investigation into the Sept. 1-3 school seizure in Beslan in North Ossetia, said a 16-year-old resident of neighboring Ingushetia has been detained on charges of possible links to the terrorists.Shepel wouldn't elaborate, but the daily Gazeta identified the suspect as Marina Korigova, a college student, and said she has been in custody for about two weeks. Investigators said Korigova had had 16 telephone conversations with a man who had taken part in the seizure, Gazeta quoted Korigova's lawyer as saying. The lawyer, Sharip Tepsayev, said Korigova said the man was her neighbor and insisted that she had done nothing wrong. The daily Vremya Novostei said another resident of Ingushetia, Akhmed Merzhoyev, 28, also has been detained on charges of involvement in the school seizure. It quoted investigators as saying Merzhoyev had delivered food to the assailants at their camp in a forest before the attack and that he knew about their plans. Posted by: Fred 2004-11-19 |
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