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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Beslan the work of international terrorists |
| 2005-09-12 |
| Marking the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in the U.S., Russian deputy prosecutor general Nikolai Shepel, who heads the working group investigating the Beslan tragedy, said the school siege was the work of international terrorists, Itar-Tass news agency reported. According to him, all the evidence gathered in the course of the investigation points to this conclusion. Among it is a video cassette which shows a recorded instruction session held for the Jamaat Caliphate group which carried out the attack on the Beslan School No. 1. Its work was coordinated by the Arab mercenary Abu-Dzeyt, who was on the international wanted list and was killed on Feb. 16, 2005, in Ingushetia, and the leader of the Chechen terrorists Shamil Basayev. The investigation also has testimonies from rebel gunmen, who say that the former Chechen rebel president Aslan Maskhadov, killed in March, personally briefed the group that carried out Russia’s worst terrorist act. Shepel said that to date, 22 of the 32 hostage-takers taking part in the attack have been identified. The identification of the remaining 10 is still being ascertained. Circumstantial evidence shows that the terrorists entered Russia illegally. The Prosecutor General’s Office has sent requests to international organizations for the relevant information. Shortly after Nikolai Shepel made his announcement, the Beslan Mothers Committee said it was outraged by his words. Member of the committee Ella Kessayeva described the statement as a continuation of a string of lies. She said the gang included inhabitants of neighboring republics, but not international terrorists. Kessayeva also noted that no one was going to answer for international terrorism, and that this was not what people in North Ossetia expected after the recent meeting between representatives of the Beslan Mothers and Vladimir Putin. Ella Kessayeva stressed that their group would now press for Shepel’s dismissal. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |