Beslan’s mothers blame Putin for deaths

BESLAN – Beslan’s bereaved mothers said Russian President Vladimir Putin was to blame for the death of their children and that unless lessons are learned from official blundering the tragedy could be repeated.

Susanna Dudiyeva, whose 12-year-old son Zaurbek was among 331 people, half of them children, killed after Chechen rebels seized their school in southern Russia, said late on Tuesday her grief gave her the right to speak frankly to Putin. She and her Beslan Mothers’ Committee will tell him in the Kremlin on Sept.2 – a year and a day on from the start of the siege – that official blundering which made the bloodshed worse is being covered up, she said.”I will say that we think President Putin is to blame for what happened.As for what else I will say, well I am unpredictable and I can’t tell the exact words I will use but it will be serious,” she said in the group’s office, where black-clad women meet daily to discuss their plans.For a year, Beslan residents have demanded a meeting with Putin to ask how the tense stand-off collapsed into a bloody gunfight and inferno on Sept.3.The meeting is unusual because Putin usually steers clear of potentially embarrassing public encounters with angry voters.Ordinary Russians he does meet are almost always deferential.Putin visited Beslan immediately after the bloodshed but arrived at night, stayed a few hours and spent most of the time in meetings with officials.The mothers also want to complain about the incompetence they say allowed Chechen rebels to drive to their small town from Chechnya along Russia’s most heavily-guarded roads.- Nampa-ReutersShe and her Beslan Mothers’ Committee will tell him in the Kremlin on Sept.2 – a year and a day on from the start of the siege – that official blundering which made the bloodshed worse is being covered up, she said.”I will say that we think President Putin is to blame for what happened.As for what else I will say, well I am unpredictable and I can’t tell the exact words I will use but it will be serious,” she said in the group’s office, where black-clad women meet daily to discuss their plans.For a year, Beslan residents have demanded a meeting with Putin to ask how the tense stand-off collapsed into a bloody gunfight and inferno on Sept.3.The meeting is unusual because Putin usually steers clear of potentially embarrassing public encounters with angry voters.Ordinary Russians he does meet are almost always deferential.Putin visited Beslan immediately after the bloodshed but arrived at night, stayed a few hours and spent most of the time in meetings with officials.The mothers also want to complain about the incompetence they say allowed Chechen rebels to drive to their small town from Chechnya along Russia’s most heavily-guarded roads.- Nampa-Reuters