Russian Duma to hold school massacre inquiry

Russia will begin a second parliamentary inquiry into the Beslan school hostage massacre, Duma speaker Mr Boris Gryzlov said …

Russia will begin a second parliamentary inquiry into the Beslan school hostage massacre, Duma speaker Mr Boris Gryzlov said today.

The State Duma lower house will investigate the tragedy, in which more than 320 hostages were killed, separately to the upper house, which announced its inquiry last week.

The investigations mark a U-turn by President Vladimir Putin who originally said any parliamentary inquiry could turn into a "political show" and ruled out a public inquiry.

Though dominated by pro-Kremlin deputies, the Duma is an elected body, unlike the upper house, and its inquiry will be viewed by analysts as carrying more weight.

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Mr Putin has come under international pressure to provide answers on how more than 1,000 parents, teachers and pupils were taken hostage. Half of those who died were children.

The Duma's inquiry commission, to be set up this month, will also investigate the near-simultaneous crashes of two passenger planes in August, which killed 90 people, and a suicide bombing in Moscow that killed 10 people.