The Russian Interior Ministry has rejected the resignation requirement offered by North Ossetian Interior Minister Kazbek Dzantiyev, Interfax news agency said on Sunday.

"The North Ossetian interior minister offered his resignation the next day following the forced operation to eliminate terrorists in Beslan," North Ossetian presidential spokesman Igor Dzantiyev told Interfax.

"The interior minister was asked to continue his duties, but heis insisting on resignation, saying that as an officer, he has no right to remain in this post," the spokesman said.

Kazbek Dzantiyev made the decision to resign by himself, a previous report said on Sunday.

Dzantiyev's resignation came in the wake of the Beslan hostage crisis occurring on Sept. 1 in North Ossetia, which claimed at least 338 lives and wounded more than 700.

Source: Xinhua