Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out any negotiations with Chechen rebel
leaders following the Beslan school hostage-seizure in which more than 320 people were killed.
Saying that no civilised country had been prepared to negotiate with Osama bin Laden, Mr Putin told a news conference in the Kazakh capital: "The atrocities that we encountered in Beslan give us the full moral right to insist that the people who are opposing Russia are part of the 'terrorist internationale'."