Grief, anger on anniversary of Russian school siege

BESLAN, Russia (Reuters) - Grief mingled with anger in the ruins of Beslan's School No. 1 on Thursday as the Russian town marked the first anniversary of a hostage siege that ended in the deaths of 331 people.

Weeping mothers who lost their children appealed for asylum abroad, saying they did not want to live in a country where officials -- who some say made the death toll worse by botching the rescue operation -- value human life so little.

In a provincial town 500 km (300 miles) away, President Vladimir Putin, in a somber black tie, led a minute's silence for the Beslan victims but he faces tough questioning on Friday when he is to meet a group of the mothers in the Kremlin.

Half of Beslan's dead were children. They had, exactly a year ago, arrived in their smartest clothes for the start of the academic year, only to be met by heavily-armed hostage-takers.

In the school's wrecked sports hall, where many of the victims perished two days later in an explosion and fire, women pressed their foreheads against photographs of their dead children that hung in rows on the walls.

In some places, several photographs carrying the same surname hung next to each other -- a sign that a whole family had been wiped out in the bloodshed.

Klara Gasinova had brought her granddaughter, 18-month-old Alyona, to the sports hall to show the child a photo of her mother, Fatima, and sister, Kristina. Both had died and Alyona was rescued from the school in the arms of a soldier.

"We went and laid flowers and lit candles and we showed Alyona the picture. She said 'Fatima, Fatima', because that's what she calls her," Gasinova said.

Visitors had to pass through metal detectors, mirroring the tight security at schools across Russia as children arrived for the first day of the new term amid fears militants could mark the anniversary with new attacks.

Putin was visiting a university in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar where students, as throughout Russia, were taking part in traditional celebrations to mark the first day of term.

"Today, a year on from the terrible tragedy in Beslan, millions of people in our country and abroad, all those who know about this terrible catastrophe, anyone who has a heart, are of course remembering that nightmare," he said.

"Let us fall quiet for a few seconds and remember those children, all those who died, who suffered at the hands of terrorists," Putin said in televised remarks.

In Beslan, the first day of term for the surviving children was pushed back out of respect for the dead.

The school was seized by militants from Russia's Chechnya region, which has been fighting for 10 years for independence from Moscow.

In a bloody climax two days later, an explosion in the sports hall prompted security forces to storm the school. Hundreds died in the ensuing firefight.

A year on, the people of Beslan still have dozens of unanswered questions. Many relatives say the official response to the siege was inept, badly-organized and heavy-handed.

"We have lost hope for an honest investigation into the reasons ... for our tragedy and we do not want to live any longer in a country where human life means nothing," they said.

"What happened with the hostages was like cattle to the slaughter. The majority of those killed were blown up, shot by tanks or grenade-launchers or burned by flamethrowers."

Two official inquiries into the tragedy have still not published their reports, and no senior official has been punished for incompetence.

Officials have denied the operation was botched. Dozens of police and troops were killed trying to rescue children from the school in a hail of gunfire.

The Beslan Mothers' Committee, a support group had gathered about 500 signatures by Thursday on a petition appealing to foreign countries to grant them asylum. Some members of the group are to meet Putin on Friday.

"We have lost hope for an honest investigation into the reasons ... for our tragedy and we do not want to live any longer in a country where human life means nothing," they said.

How do you find a reason for terrorism? And how is this the solution or resolution to such a tragedy?

There is a family in Beslan, two brothers who minister to the Christian community, who lost several of their children and have even suffered more hardships since Sept 1. Amazingly, they have found their strength and grace in thier time of need to keep ministering to their community. They love their neighbors and invested in them instead of holding on to anger and unforgiveness. I can't imagine going through such a trial without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. I still pray for this community as they are still healing and rebuilding shattered lives.

There is a family in Beslan, two brothers who minister to the Christian community, who lost several of their children and have even suffered more hardships since Sept 1. Amazingly, they have found their strength and grace in thier time of need to keep ministering to their community. They love their neighbors and invested in them instead of holding on to anger and unforgiveness. I can't imagine going through such a trial without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. I still pray for this community as they are still healing and rebuilding shattered lives.

Excellent! It is true that love overcomes, but anger, hate and unforgiveness in the heart corrupts. I have studied the events which led to the tragedy, and once the artillery shell fell from the basketball goal setting off an explosion the police had no choice but to respond. I guess it is natural to want to blame somebody except the evildoers for what transpired, because individuals do not understand the nature of evil.

HBO is doing a documentary special on this tonight and if it's anything like the one they did on the Russian theatre siege, it should be great.

http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet?ACTION_DETAIL=DETAIL&ID=109813

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.