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Bruce Russian school siege suspects killed Staff and agencies Guardian Unlimited (www.guardian.co.uk) Friday March 4, 2005 Five people suspected of involvement in last year's Beslan school massacre have been killed by Russian authorities while resisting arrest, an official said today. Four suspects were also said to have been arrested in an operation that targeted some of the alleged organisers of the hostage-taking raid at the school in the town of Beslan, in southern Russia, last September. Nikolai Shepel, the regional prosecutor leading the Beslan inquiry, would not elaborate on where or when the operation took place but said in a statement that it had targeted those involved in the "preparation stage" of the atrocity. At least 32 gunmen raided the school in Beslan and held 1,227 people hostage for nearly three days before the siege ended in gunfire and explosions that killed 330 people, almost half of them children. Officials said at the time that all the gunmen had been killed, apart from one who was captured, but the Russian media suggested there were more than 32 gunmen and that some of them had escaped. The Chechen separatist militant Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the school seizure and other attacks in Russia, including two plane bombings in August. Mr Shepel said today the suspects arrested in the latest raid were also accused of involvement in an attack on police facilities in Russia's southern region of Ingushetia, near Chechnya, in June last year, in which about 90 people were killed. He said that Abu Dzeit, a suspected al-Qaida-linked mercenary from Saudi Arabia, was a key organiser of the school seizure and other terror attacks. Dzeit died in a Russian security sweep last month. Investigators say the six-month criminal investigation into the Beslan atrocity has provided some answers as to how the raid was organised but there has been anger in Russia at the slow pace of the inquiries. Russian authorities have been accused of hiding information about the attackers and how they were able to slip into town with a huge quantity of weapons so easily. Five local police officers have been charged with negligence in relation to the tragedy. Last month Mr Shepel told the Guardian the first explosion at the school had come from within the building and was not caused by some "outside influence". Russian forces have been accused of causing the first explosion, leading to the bloody ending to the siege. Investigators say tests revealed that 21 of the 31 gunmen who died in the storming of the building had heroin or morphine in their bloodstreams. Another six apparently used light drugs ranging from codeine to marijuana. Mr Shepel said the group was led by Ruslan Khuchbarov, known as "the colonel", who he said he had seen on a videotape meeting with Abu Dzeit a few days before the attack. http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1430553,00.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
