Beslan hostage-takers were able to flee, soldier says

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But Vassily K, who is a serving commando, said: "I saw Khodov being interrogated . At one point he produced a 50-rouble note and said, 'Thanks to that piece of paper, I passed through all the checkpoints and thanks to it again in two years from now I will be out of jail and I will again kill for cash'.

"Throughout the questioning, he was insolent and self-confident. On the night of 4 September he was taken to Moscow and where he is now I do not know." A female suicide bomber or "black widow" was also claimed to be among the detained, and Nur-Pashi Kulayev, the only person to be officially captured alive, is said to be the third detainee.

Vassily K claimed that as many as 49 rebels were killed during the siege (not 32), that three were taken alive (not one) and that 13 others managed to flee by disguising themselves in civilian clothes and blending into the crowds of local people.

After the siege was broken, with the loss of at least 344 lives, more than half of them children, Vassily said some 47 assault rifles were seized. He also suggested the rebels were so organised that they had "cased the joint" weeks in advance and ensured all the tall trees surrounding the school were cut down, affording a clear field of fire.

Independent UK