Beslan: Public anger mounting

2005-09-01 11:46

Beslan - Russia marks the first anniversary of the Beslan school hostage massacre with three days of events around the country from Thursday including rallies, ceremonies and a planned face-to-face Kremlin meeting between victims' mothers and President Vladimir Putin.

Russian schools begin the academic year on Thursday with a minute's silence for those who died in the crisis that began when over 1 100 people were taken hostage on September 1, 2004 at a school in the Russian Caucasus by militants demanding Russian troops withdraw from Chechnya.

Three days of official mourning have been declared in the North Ossetia province where Beslan is located.

In all, 318 hostages died in the crisis, including 186 children. Ten Russian servicemen, two rescue workers and 31 of the hostage-takers were also killed in the climax to the crisis on September 3, as security forces battled the hostage-takers.

Officials said security had been stepped up at schools across the country ahead of the anniversary.

The Committee of Mothers of Beslan says it has secured a meeting with Putin in Moscow on Friday, at which it will express its view that the Russian leader and other top officials bear responsibility for what happened in Beslan, and the Kremlin has confirmed the meeting is planned.

Also on Friday, opposition parties and human rights campaigners will hold a memorial ceremony in Moscow, at which they will condemn the conduct of Russia's anti-terror campaign and demand a more thorough investigation into Beslan.

On Saturday, mourners in Beslan will attend the inauguration at a cemetery where victims are buried of a monument entitled "The Tree of Life," which depicts the children of Beslan ascending to heaven.

In Moscow on Saturday, city authorities have called for a minute of silence to begin at 13:05, a year to the minute after an explosion in the school's gymnasium in which many of the victims died.

A silent rally will also be held near Red Square, one of a number of such events being organised in a string of cities by the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi under the slogan "Beyond Words".

The one-year commemorations have been marked by increasing expressions of public anger at the authorities' handling of the Beslan crisis.

Some mothers last week staged a sit-in protest at the courthouse where the sole surviving hostage-taker is on trial.

Many independent analysts have accused the authorities of failing to face the issue that underlay the disaster, the ongoing conflict in Chechnya, where the hostage takers are thought to have planned the attack under the command of rebel leader Shamil Basayev.

Basayev, Russia's most wanted man, has claimed responsibility for it and remains at large.

- AFP