Russian commission clears Beslan rescue effort
More than two years after the Beslan school siege by pro-Chechnya rebels, a Russian commission on Friday cleared security officials of responsibility for a bungled rescue effort in which more than 300 people died. The rebels had seized more than 1,000 children and parents attending a ceremony to mark the start of a new school year on Sept. 1, 2004. More than half of the 333 hostages killed in the three-day siege were children. Full Story