Anguish of a mother forced to choose

ZALINA Dzandarova cradles her son Alan as he sleeps with his small face buried against her stomach - and thinks of her daughter, Alana, who she chose to leave behind.

The image of little Alana, her 6-year-old daughter, torments her: Alana clutching her hand, Alana crying and calling after her. Alana’s sobs disappearing into the distance as Ms Dzandarova walked out of Middle School No. 1 on Thursday, clutching two-year-old Alan in her arms.

The rebels who seized hundreds of hostages at the small provincial school in southern Russia this week allowed 26 women and children to leave earlier in the crisis. About a dozen mothers, like Ms Dzandarova, were allowed to take only one child, forced to leave another behind.