12 detained in Beslan massacre
2005-03-07 14:14
Rostov-On-Don, Russia - Twelve militants who served as a back-up for the group that seized a school in southern Russia in September have been detained in Chechnya, the Chechen Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The militants were detained in the Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya on Sunday night, said Ruslan Atsayev, the ministry spokesperson. Their leader was killed as they were being taken into custody, he said.
Six of the militants told their interrogators that they had been in the southern town of Beslan to back up the group that seized a school on September 1, setting off a terrifying three-day hostage crisis that ended with the deaths of about 330 victims and almost all the attackers, Atsayev said.
When they learned that the hostage-taking had been carried off, they left the town, Atsayev said they told investigators. The six who have already given testimony have been charged, he said, but he did not describe the charges.
Law enforcement officials have been at pains to show progress in the Beslan investigation six months following the raid.
Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel said last week that authorities had arrested four people and killed five others suspected of helping stage the Beslan raid.
Radical Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the school seizure, in which officials say 32 attackers took part. They say 31 were killed and one detained.
Anger has grown over the slow pace of the investigation, particularly among residents of Beslan. Many suspect authorities are hiding information about the attackers and how they slipped into town with a huge quantity of weapons.
In January, Shepel said that seven suspected accomplices of the attackers had been killed in special operations, two others arrested, and six put on a wanted list. The head of a parliamentary commission investigating the attack later said that among the two suspected accomplices in custody and three being sought were high-ranking law enforcement officials.
- AP