The suspect: The Russian authorities yesterday blamed one of Chechnya's most radical resistance leaders for masterminding the Beslan hostage-taking writes Jonathan Steele in Moscow.
He is Shamil Basayev, a senior field commander who orchestrated the capture of a hospital in Budennovsk in 1995. Ten weeks ago, Mr Basayev took part in a raid on police stations in neighbouring Ingushetia.
Maj Sultan Guradzhev, a local off-duty policeman who escaped from the hostage-takers on Wednesday, said he understood from their conversation that they belonged to Mr Basayev's group.
The raid on the Ingush police stations in June was carried out by a mixture of Chechen and Ingush men in a sign that the struggle over Chechnya's independence is spreading to other Caucasian republics. Like the Chechens, the Muslim Ingush suffered severe brutalities under Russian rule, most notably when Stalin deported both nations to central Asia in 1944. Tens of thousands died.
Although the Ingush have kept largely clear of the Chechen uprising against Russia under presidents Yeltsin and Putin, tens of thousands of Chechen refugees live in Ingushetia in miserable conditions.
The previous Ingush president, Mr Ruslan Aushev, gave them protection and often called on the Kremlin to negotiate with the leaders of the independence movement. But he was replaced by a former FSB security services general, Mr Murat Zyazikov, last year.
President Zyazikov launched a round-up of Ingush suspected of sympathising with the Chechen resistance, provoking widespread anger and resentment. Other Ingush have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen, possibly linked to the authorities.
Mr Igor Onishchenko, a former FSB officer, recently posted a statement on an Ingush website after ending a tour of duty in Ingushetia. He claimed to have worked since early 2003 as part of a death squad which captured and killed people who criticised Mr Zyazikov or were suspected of links with the Chechen resistance. "I personally crippled more than 50 people and buried about 35," he told the website.
Mr Basayev's website (www.kavkazcenter.com) showed video footage in July, announcing that he was involved in the attacks on the police stations in and around the Ingush capital, Nazran.
Mr Aslan Maskhadov, Chechnya's last freely elected president, who leads the secessionist movement, has an uneasy relationship with Mr Basayev. He publicly approves of some of his actions while denouncing others.