Putin: “No talks with child killers”

BESLAN – Russian president Vladimir Putin rejected any dialogue with Chechen separatists, blamed for at least 335 deaths in the school hostage siege, as hundreds of thousands joined rallies against terrorism.

“Why don’t you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?” Putin said in a meeting with foreign journalists late on Monday. “You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child killers?” he said, ruling out a public inquiry into the operation to retake the school.Across Russia’s 11 time zones, hundreds of thousands were rallying to denounce terrorism.The Urals city of Yekaterinburg saw its largest ever public demonstration as 20 000 people took to the streets, while Russian television showed several thousand massing in driving rain in the Pacific port of Vladivostok.At least 100 000 people were expected to join a rally in Moscow starting at 13h00, bolstering Putin against critics of the authorities’ handling of the bloody siege.The European Union has long advocated a political solution to the 10-year separatist war in Chechnya which has left the tiny province in tatters.The southern town of Beslan buried more of the 335 people – half of them children – killed during a chaotic operation to free them from captors demanding independence for Chechnya.The ruins of School Number One, where more than 1 000 hostages were held for 53 hours, have become a memorial where processions stop and lay flowers on their way to a new cemetery for victims.Heavy rain on Monday and overnight turned the new cemetery into a sea of mud, with family members slipping as they trudged across the field to bury their dead.Every few metres a new grave was being dug or filled with a coffin.Behind them a mechanical digger gouged out more graves.”The whole town is crying, wailing for the pain that can never ease,” said Masha, neighbour of four-year-old Rada Solkazanova and her mother Larisa, buried together yesterday.”Now all people want to do is find their loved ones and bury them.Can you imagine the pain of never knowing what happened and never burying your children?” she added.”They’re not people, they’re animals,” said Assiya, another neighbour.”They call themselves Muslims, but what have they got to do with any kind of religion if they can kill children?” Anti-terrorism rallies, which started on Monday to accompany the two days of official mourning for the victims of the Beslan siege, will culminate in a mass event outside the Kremlin.But opposition politicians said the rally was intended to parry criticism of the Kremlin’s handling of the crisis and Putin’s failure to ensure security for ordinary Russians.Critics say Putin failed to keep a pledge he made on coming to power in 2000 to end a separatist revolt in Chechnya.They also say troops bungled Friday’s operation to storm the school.In the past two weeks Chechen rebels have also been blamed for the downing of two airliners, killing 90 people, and a suicide bombing which killed 10 at a Moscow metro station.The crisis has had ramifications beyond Russia’s borders, leading NATO Secretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, to discuss the issue at a meeting yesterday of NATO states and Russia.Chechnya has always been a problem in cooperation between Russia and Western countries, many of which question Moscow’s rights record as it fights separatism.Napa-Reuters”You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child killers?” he said, ruling out a public inquiry into the operation to retake the school.Across Russia’s 11 time zones, hundreds of thousands were rallying to denounce terrorism.The Urals city of Yekaterinburg saw its largest ever public demonstration as 20 000 people took to the streets, while Russian television showed several thousand massing in driving rain in the Pacific port of Vladivostok.At least 100 000 people were expected to join a rally in Moscow starting at 13h00, bolstering Putin against critics of the authorities’ handling of the bloody siege.The European Union has long advocated a political solution to the 10-year separatist war in Chechnya which has left the tiny province in tatters.The southern town of Beslan buried more of the 335 people – half of them children – killed during a chaotic operation to free them from captors demanding independence for Chechnya.The ruins of School Number One, where more than 1 000 hostages were held for 53 hours, have become a memorial where processions stop and lay flowers on their way to a new cemetery for victims.Heavy rain on Monday and overnight turned the new cemetery into a sea of mud, with family members slipping as they trudged across the field to bury their dead.Every few metres a new grave was being dug or filled with a coffin.Behind them a mechanical digger gouged out more graves.”The whole town is crying, wailing for the pain that can never ease,” said Masha, neighbour of four-year-old Rada Solkazanova and her mother Larisa, buried together yesterday.”Now all people want to do is find their loved ones and bury them.Can you imagine the pain of never knowing what happened and never burying your children?” she added.”They’re not people, they’re animals,” said Assiya, another neighbour.”They call themselves Muslims, but what have they got to do with any kind of religion if they can kill children?” Anti-terrorism rallies, which started on Monday to accompany the two days of official mourning for the victims of the Beslan siege, will culminate in a mass event outside the Kremlin.But opposition politicians said the rally was intended to parry criticism of the Kremlin’s handling of the crisis and Putin’s failure to ensure security for ordinary Russians.Critics say Putin failed to keep a pledge he made on coming to power in 2000 to end a separatist revolt in Chechnya.They also say troops bungled Friday’s operation to storm the school.In the past two weeks Chechen rebels have also been blamed for the downing of two airliners, killing 90 people, and a suicide bombing which killed 10 at a Moscow metro station.The crisis has had ramifications beyond Russia’s borders, leading NATO Secretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, to discuss the issue at a meeting yesterday of NATO states and Russia.Chechnya has always been a problem in cooperation between Russia and Western countries, many of which question Moscow’s rights record as it fights separatism.Napa-Reuters