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Special report: Russia
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In this section
Swiss briefly seize £500m worth of fine art
Director of rocket firm accused of espionage
Putin reshuffle gives clues to choice of heir
Race to save frozen clues to life in space
Prisoner Khodorkovsky unveils his grand plan
Playing the identity card
'Racist' Russian TV advert investigated
Izvestia editor sacked by new owners
Dead and buried war hero claims medal 60 years on
Church leader urges vote on moving Lenin's body
Russia may finish Stalin's 'railway of bones'
Russian art's young rebels free to shock
Russian militants 'wanted planes for suicide bombings'
Former tycoon takes swipe at Kremlin from jail in Siberia
Obituary: Oleg Lundstrem
|  | Fury and grief as Beslan remembers No respite for relatives as anniversary of siege is marked Nick Paton Walsh in Beslan Friday September 2, 2005 The Guardian "Murderer, there goes the murderer," screamed Batras Tsallago, his face twisted with grief for his lost brother Timur. The object of his hatred was Lydia Tsaliyeva, the headteacher of the Beslan school at the time of the siege a year ago that ended in more than 300 deaths. As she joined dozens of families at a mourning ceremony yesterday at the site of the carnage, the sorrow and confusion that still besets this small southern Russian town turned to anger. Article continues Ms Tsaliyeva is accused by some survivors of allowing into the school the builders who planted weapons for the hostage takers during the summer holidays. Endless recriminations, and abusive graffiti on the old school walls, caused her to resign this year. But yesterday this was not enough for Mr Tsallago, 40, who joined an angry mob that encircled Ms Tsaliyeva, 72. Others stepped in to restrain Mr Tsallago and break up the fracas. The former teacher was ushered away, in front the TV cameras that had massed to film the sad ceremony. "I'm not going anywhere," Mr Tsallago told a neighbour who tried to restrain him. "She knew all the gunmen. Why did anyone let her in here? How can I live without my brother?" Hundreds of relatives attended yesterday's anniversary ceremony, bells tolling dolefully across the school courtyard at 9.10am, roughly the time when at least 30 militants took 1,128 people hostage on the first day of school. Natalia Salamova, a pensioner, beat her chest and wailed with grief inside the remains of the gym where two explosions killed most of the victims at the start of the siege. "On the first day of school!" she exclaimed. Now preserved as a shrine to the dead, the gym's walls were lined with pictures of the dead, including 10 elite security officers killed during the siege. Around the gym, an American aid group had wrapped dozens of banners, bearing the names of child victims of war and violence the world over. The ceremony was also marred by fury at the government's inability to save the hostages and establish the truth about the siege, and its apparent insensitivity to the grief of relatives. Yesterday six Beslan mothers issued a statement saying: "We, the parents and relatives of the victims killed in the terrorist attack on School No 1 in Beslan on September 3, have lost all hope for a fair investigation into the causes of our tragedy and for finding the perpetrators. "We do not want to live in this country, where human life does not mean anything. We are requesting political asylum in any country where human rights are observed." Today they will meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Many relatives had requested that Mr Putin stay away from the anniversary mourning in Beslan, such was the local feeling against him. Yesterday, in televised remarks from the town of Krasnodar, 300 miles away, Mr Putin said: "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." Mr Putin sent an aide, Dmitri Kozak, who laid red carnations at the gym below the photos of the dead special-forces officers. Diana Gagiyeva, nine, returned to the school for the first time in the morning. "It's interesting," she said. "I feel good here." Azam Tebiyev, 10, who fainted the only other time he revisited the school, stood tall in his Celtic football shirt, bought on a charity trip to Glasgow, and declared he was no longer scared. Moments later, he ran to grasp the arm of his mother, Luda. Borik Rubayev, seven, whose parents died in the siege, was too scared to come, said his aunt, Valentina Khosonova. Borik has been the subject of a custody case between Ms Khosonova and his grandparents. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the end of the siege, and further ceremonies are planned. It also has an added significance for Ms Khosonova. "They will come to take him away on Saturday, probably," she said. Interactive guide Russian school hostage crisis Audio reports 06.09.04: Nick Paton Walsh reports from Beslan, North Ossetia 03.09.04: Nick Paton Walsh reports from Beslan, North Ossetia 02.09.04: Nick Paton Walsh reports from Beslan, North Ossetia Map Site of the hostage crisis in North Ossetia Comment and analysis 06.09.2004: Peter Preston: Writing the script for terror 05.09.2004: Leader: Horrors of the Beslan atrocity 03.09.2004: Simon Tisdall: A terrible lesson from a classroom in Beslan 02.09.2004: Battles began in days of the tsars 03.09.2004: Leader: Russian hostages News reports 06.09.2004: Bombers' justification: Russians are killing our children 06.09.2004: A sombre march to graveside that sums up Russia's loss 06.09.2004: Frantic search for missing in Beslan 06.09.2004: Russia mourns Beslan's dead 05.09.2004: Muslim leaders condemn killers 04.09.2004: Bloodbath: up to 200 die as siege ends in mayhem 03.09.2004: Amid the savagery of the siege, an act of humanity 03.09.2004: Blasts and gunfire rock school 03.09.2004: Long wait raises dread of a bloody end 03.09.2004: Police station raiders are top suspects 03.09.2004: Putin promises to put lives of hostages first 02.09.2004: 'Exchange us for our children. What are they guilty of?' 02.09.2004: Explosions heard near Russian siege school 02.09.2004: Extremists turn fight for independence into unrelenting holy war 02.09.2004: Russia calls emergency session at UN 02.09.2004: West turns a blind eye to the politics of exasperation 01.09.2004: Contact made with hostage-takers What the papers say 03.09.2004: Press review: Russian school siege News guide Russian media sources Special reports Russia Chechnya Printable version | Send it to a friend | Save story

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