Most parents who lost children in the Beslan school last year seizure agreed to a meeting with Russia's president during the massacre's first anniversary this week, saying yesterday they would use the opportunity to address grievances with authorities.
Some of the parents opposed Friday's trip to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin, saying its timing was inappropriate, but most felt it was a chance to speak their mind, said Susanna Dudiyeva, head of the Beslan Mothers' Committee.
"To invite us on Sept. 2 is the height of cynicism," said Dudiyeva, whose 13-year-son Zaur was one of more than 330 people killed in the attack on Beslan's School No.1.
The meeting, however, provided an opportunity to address their grievances over the authorities' alleged responsibility for the tragedy and the official investigation, she said.
The Beslan mothers have long been pressing for a meeting with Putin to protest the failure to prevent last year's Sept. 1-3 seizure by 32 heavily-armed militants in the southern Russian town. There were more than 1,100 hostages.
The mothers accuse corrupt local officials of helping the militants cross heavily-policed territory in the North Caucasus and are incensed that the only person facing trial is the sole surviving hostage-taker, Nur-Pashi Kulayev. They have accused the government of mounting a cover-up and demand that high-level officials also be prosecuted in the case.
The mothers' committee was to meet later yesterday to decide who would be in the delegation, Dudiyeva said.
"We have things to say to the president, we cannot pass up such an opportunity. First, we will tell him that the government is responsible for what happened and that we want the investigation to be objective," she said.
The mothers had warned Putin to stay away from Beslan during the anniversary ceremonies, saying his presence there could provoke angry protests.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia