Verdict due in trial of alleged Beslan school attacker

The final chapter in the trial of the sole surviving alleged attacker in the Beslan school hostage seizure opened today, as a judge began reading the verdict and said the court had established the defendant took part in murder, terrorism and other crimes.

The statement was not a formal verdict, but strongly suggested Nur-Pashi Kulayev would be found guilty in the September 2004 attack on School No.1 in Beslan, which led to the deaths of 331 victims, more than half of them children, as well as 31 alleged militants.