Chechen rebel leader blames rival for school massacre

Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has denied being involved in the Russian school hostage-taking and said another rebel chief, Shamil Basayev, should stand trial for staging it.

In a statement posted on a rebel Web site, Maskhadov, who was elected president of Chechnya in 1997 after it won de-facto independence in the first 1994-96 war, said he could not immediately bring Basayev to justice because of war but pledged to do it once the hostilities end.

“I categorically declare that after the end of the war, persons who are guilty of carrying out provocative acts will be taken to court, including Shamil Basayev,” said Maskhadov, who continues to call himself Chechnya’s president.

Russian officials have blamed both Maskhadov and Basayev for the seizure of the school in Beslan. Nearly 340 people – nearly half of them children – died as a result of the seizure and the final day of violence.

In a lengthy statement posted on a separate rebel website last week, Basayev took responsibility for the school raid, twin Russian plane bombings that killed 90 people, and a suicide attack near a Moscow underground station that killed another 10.

Akhmed Zakayev, Maskhadov’s envoy who was granted asylum in Britain, has repeatedly denied his involvement in the school seizure.

“I categorically declare that the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria under my command have nothing to do with this terrorist act,” Maskhadov said in his statement, referring to Chechnya by its rebel name.

At the same time, it said the school seizure and other attacks were the consequence of Russia’s “genocidal war” in Chechnya and called for a political solution to the conflict under international guarantees.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out peace talks with rebels, saying they are terrorists who must be eliminated.