Versions of the Truth

RFE/RL notes that the North Ossetian Parliamentary Commission is expected to release its final report on Beslan today:

North Ossetia's deputy parliament speaker Stanislav Kesaev, who heads the regional parliamentary commission, said today that the 30-page report contains "more questions than answers." He said most questions pertain to the federal authorities' decision to storm the school.

Russia blames the bloodbath on the hostage takers. But rights groups believe federal security forces are largely responsible for the heavy death toll.

Meanwhile, Itar-Tass reports that the the deadline for completing the official federal Russian investigation into the Beslan raid has been pushed back by another three months to March 1 2006. (via chechnya-sl)

Update: As was widely expected, the North Ossetian report concludes that the federal authorities botched the rescue at Beslan.

The BBC's account of the report is here.