'Honouring the dead with hours of lies'

ONE Russian journalist commenting on the TV coverage said that in the first two days Russians, who relied on television for their news, might have not even have known that hundreds of hostages were being held in Beslan.

Russian television went live with the dramatic conclusion to siege.

One of the main channels, NTV, was the first to go into rolling coverage at about the same time as other broadcasters like the BBC and CNN did. Two of the other most popular Russian channels, state-owned RTV and the half state-owned Channel One, did not go live for another half-hour.

Russian TV only went live for the denouncement of the crisis yesterday.

The station's coverage of the end of the siege was similar, relying on correspondents at the scene and the studio anchor.

Much of the information came from the flood of news agency reports, reflecting the general sense of chaos and confusion over what was happening. Russians saw the same raw, emotional images of children fleeing and the wounded being brought out on stretchers.

But there was no analysis and no questioning of the official line - that the violent end to the siege had been triggered by the hostage-takers.

Even NTV - once the hardest-hitting channel newswise - reported official statements without comment, in contrast to its coverage of the Moscow theatre siege two years ago. All three stations ended their rolling coverage and went back to normal programming after about three-and-a-half hours.

The comparative restraint of the coverage fits the pattern of recent days as Russia has faced a series of attacks on civilian targets. Only last week, the near-simultaneous crash of two Russian planes was for some time portrayed in the broadcast media as more likely to be an accident than an act of terror - despite an overwhelming sense among Russians that it was the latter. It was the country's more independent press that angrily rejected the official explanation. In an article entitled "Honouring the dead with hours of lies," the Moscow Times argued that broadcasters had been complicit in trying to keep a lid on the truth.

The verdict of newspapers in the coming days on how the government handled the siege will give one of the clearest signs of how President Putin has weathered his biggest challenge so far.

A history of sieges

Moscow 2002: In a siege which stunned the world, 700 people were taken hostage as they watched a theatre performance.

The death toll was 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters after Russian troops stormed the theatre.

Most were killed by a military gas used to knock out the hostage-takers.

In both the theatre attack, and the latest tragic incident, the perpetrators - wearing explosive belts - made clear they would, if necessary, end the siege by transforming themselves into human bombs.

Turkey 2001: In continued protests against Russian military action in Chechnya, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Istanbul and held 120 people hostage overnight.

The gunmen had fired shots but said blood would not be shed as part of their protest. The 13 hostage takers were arrested while guests and staff were released uninjured.

Chechnya 1994: After Russian forces marched into Chechnya, rebels herded hundreds of civilians into a hospital in the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk. One hundred people died during the rebel assault after a botched commando raid.

Texas 1993: A fire claimed the lives of 76 men, women and children after a 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian commune in Waco.

Investigations failed to establish where church leaders in the breakaway group of Seventh Day Adventists or federal agents started the fire.

The FBI brought the siege to a horrifying conclusion when they fired more than 300 canisters of tear gas into the wooden buildings before ramming them with tanks. The Waco fire caused a backlash against the authorities culminating in the Oklahoma bombing.

Philippines 2000: Islamic rebels, fighting for an independent Muslim homeland in the largely-Catholic country, seized 21 foreigner holiday makers. The captives, three Germans, nine Malaysians, two French two South Africans, two Finns, two Filipinos and one Lebanese, were kidnapped from a Malaysian dive resort. After two months, the hostages were released unharmed amid denials from the Manila government they had negotiated a ransom deal.

Luxembourg 2000: Police ended a nursery school siege when they shot and critically wounded a gunman holding 25 children hostage.

The man had been persuaded to leave the building to hold a news conference when he was shot by a police sniper. The 28-hour siege had commenced in June 2000 when the man, who had lost a bitter custody battle for his own two children, walked into the school armed with a grenade, pistol and knife.

The Tunisian-born man had demanded a flight to Libya. The hostages were all released unharmed.

Norway 2000: A gunman surrendered to police after holding 28 children and staff hostage during a 10-hour nursery school siege in Hjelmeland. His motive was unclear.

The siege ended peacefully.