Beslan Mothers demand dismissal of Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General

The meeting of Beslan residents with President Vladimir Putin of Russia "has brought in absolutely no result," Ella Kesayev, a member of the Beslan Mothers committee, said in a broadcast of Radio Echo of Moscow.

"The president said that he was to blame and that he would attain an objective investigation. But the facts are as follows: Mr Shepel's statement that the terrorists in Beslan were drug takers and that they are international terrorists who had illegally penetrated to Russia — this is what followed after President Putin's facilitation of an objective investigation," she said. "So, what do we have to do? Think that Shepel says something of his own? It is clear that he says what he is said to say," added Ms Kesayev. "We waited for people to come to their senses and for the federal government to tell us at least some truth finally. But here it is: even more deceit and lies that are even more blatant than they were before," concluded the Beslan Mothers representative.

"The prosecutor's office, just like us, knows the national composition of the gang. We cannot understand how long they can tell lies and what the goal is that these lies pursue, who benefits from them," the Beslan Mothers representative said. "We are deeply indignant about Shepel's statement that the gang which included residents of neighbouring republics was international terrorism."

"This statement once again confirms that the official investigation has been in all possible ways trying to conceal all those crimes that were committed in School No 1 in Beslan during the onslaught when children where burnt, shot with tanks and fire throwers," Ms Kesayev said.

"No one is responsible for international terrorism, but it is not what we expected after the conversation of our representatives with Putin," she added. According to Ms Kesayev, Beslan Mothers will seek Mr Shepel's dismissal as Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General.

On Sunday, 11 September, Nikolai Shepel said that evidence collected in the course of the investigation made it possible to say that the terrorist act in Beslan and New York (11 September 2001) is the "handiwork of international terrorists," ITAR-TASS reports.

• Duma member discloses evidence on Beslan