Izvestia.ru is reporting that the leader of the terrorists holding the school in Beslan has been identified as Doku Umarov, a leader of the Chechen underground.
UPDATE: Logic and Sanity is covering this story extremely well with updates about every 15 minutes.
UPDATE: Associated Press is reporting that 26 hostages have been released:
BESLAN, Russia — Camouflaged security agents carried babies to safety after militants holding hundreds of hostages at a school released at least 26 women and children Thursday, and officials expressed hope that negotiations would bring more progress in the standoff in southern Russia.
Utro.ru has just picked up the story. Izvestia.ru and Gazeta.ru don’t have anything new yet.
UPDATE: As of Thursday, September 2, 2004 9:50am CDT, vigil, talks continue.
UPDATE: As of Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:00am CDT Utro.ru has produced a list of those released. Of the 26 hostages released 14 are under three years of age. Apparently, “school” includes being a day-care center. I suspect that the “bandits” (as Utro.ru is calling them) are releasing the very youngest hostages and enough of the adult female hostages to carry them out.
UPDATE: Thursday, September 2, 2004 12:00pm CDT Gazeta.ru is reporting that relatives of the hostages have recorded a statement to the Muslims of the world condemning the action as a sin.
UPDATE: Thursday, September 2, 2004 1:45pm CDT. New information has slowed down substantially. It’s difficult to say whether this is due to nothing new to report, negotiations proceeding, or that it’s getting late over there. I’ll continue to update periodically throughout the day.
UPDATE: Thursday, September 2, 2004 5:00pm CDT. This is a repeat of information I placed in the comments section. According to Gazeta.ru the official estimate of hostages prior to the release today was 354. Worried people in the crowd waiting outside the school have been holding up signs that say there are more than 800 hostages.
There’s a similar discrepancy about how many people have been killed. The official number is 7. In an interview with Utro.ru, a man who claims to have escaped out a window when ordered by the terrorists to dump the bodies of the slain out that window put the number of dead at 15.
Right now there’s just no way to tell. My guess based on past experiences with official Russian government estimates is that the number is higher than the official estimate but lower than 800.
UPDATE: Thursday, September 2, 2004 8:20pm CDT. Lenta.ru is reporting that one of the hostages released from the school says that there are more than 1,000 hostages.
UPDATE: Thursday, September 2, 2004 8:30pm CDT. Gazeta.ru is reporting that the president of the Chechen Republic, Aslan Maskhadov has issued a letter condemning the actions of the terrorists in Beslan, calling for the release of the hostages, and demanding the use of normal diplomatic channels in resolving all grievances.
UPDATE: Thursday, September 2, 2004 9:50pm CDT. Skynews via Utro.ru is reporting that explosions and shots have been heard in the vicinity of the school.
UPDATE: I’m continuing updates here.
