EU reaction: The European Union expressed shock and sadness at the deaths of hostages in the school in Northern Ossetia and EU foreign ministers said they regretted that the crisis could not be resolved peacefully.
The ministers, who are meeting here in Valkenburg, expressed solidarity with the Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, but called for calm.
The Dutch Foreign Minister, Mr Bernard Bot, whose country holds the EU Presidency, said that the EU understood "the difficult dilemma" that faced the Russian authorities.
Mr Bot condemned all forms of terrorism and said more needed to be done to counter it.
"There is not one strategy. You have to update it constantly," he said.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, described his reaction to yesterday's events as one of horror and sadness.
"The hostage-takers clearly had no regard for human life. Their actions have served no purpose, other than to bring violence, fear and grief into the everyday lives of ordinary people. These actions must be condemned by all right-thinking people," he said.
The Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, describing the fight against terrorism as a common cause of all the peace-loving people of the world.
"Killing of these innocent people is an evil, despicable act of barbarism. The fact that many of them appear to have been young children murdered in cold blood is simply horrible," he said.
Mr Bot said the details of what happened in Beslam were still unclear, but expressed confidence that Russian authorities acted only after careful consideration. "It is very difficult to judge from a distance whether the right decision has been taken or not. But I think the Russian authorities have considered very carefully this situation before deciding to take this action. And I must assume that they have gone to their utmost to find a negotiated deal with the hostage-takers," he said.
Germany's Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, said nothing justified taking "children, infants and their mothers" hostage. He warned, however, that there were no simple answers in the struggle against terrorism.
"We must not forget that we have to defend our values during difficult times, too," he said.