Editor sacked, Arab TV bureau chief arrested over Beslan coverage
Pakistan Times Monitoring Report

MOSCOW (Russia): The editor of Russia's top daily Izvestia was forced to resign Monday after its owner ruled that the paper's coverage of the Beslan school hostage crisis was "too emotional".

"I have left my post," Raf Shakirov confirmed by telephone.

The newspaper is owned by a holding that belongs to tycoon Vladimir Potanin, who has tried to keep to good terms with the Kremlin amid President Vladimir Putin's drive against so-called oligarchs who have their own political ambitions.

A source in Izvestia said the holding company found the coverage "too radical and negative".

Izvestia came out with a black flag on one of its issues. On Saturday, its front page showed only a photograph of a man with an anguished look rushing a girl to safety in his arms during the bloody raid and six-hour shootout that followed.

The newspaper was also the first to report that there were around 1,000 hostages being held inside the school, while officials spoke of a figure of just over 300.

Arab TV's Moscow bureau chief arrested

Meanwhile, the Moscow bureau chief of satellite television Al-Arabiya was arrested Monday as he prepared to fly back to the Russian capital after covering the school hostage bloodbath in North Ossetia, the Dubai-based station said.

Amr Abdul Hamid, an Egyptian who holds Russian citizenship, was "arrested by Russian authorities at Mineralniye Vody airport," a news editor informed, requesting anonymity. "He was returning to Moscow after covering the hostage-taking," he added.

The news editor said no reason was given for the arrest, but the station had learned that Abdul Hamid would be detained for two days. Al-Arabiya reported the arrest in an evening news bulletin, but did not immediately give further details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government faced mounting criticism on Monday for failing to acknowledge their own responsibility in the deaths of hundreds of children and adults in the school siege in the town of Beslan.

The Russian press lashed out at Putin, saying his effort to link rebel fighters in Chechnya with international terrorism was a cynical ploy to escape blame for his uncompromising policy on the separatist fighters.

The editor of Russia's top daily Izvestia was forced to resign Monday for what was perceived as his "emotional" coverage of the hostage crisis which began when gunmen took some 1,000 captives at a school on Wednesday.

More than 335 people were killed -- half of them children -- in the end to the hostage-taking, which came Friday after Russian forces stormed the building.●