Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev directed the hostage-taking raid on a school in southern Russia last week which left nearly 340 dead.

"I know for certain, that Shamil Basayev directly managed this operation," Lavrov said in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV channel,according to an official transcript provided by the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.

But the minister did not provide clear evidence for his statement.

Russian authorities have said that Basayev was behind the school hostage-taking in the North Ossetia republic and many other violent rebel attacks. Lavrov's remark was the latest definite accusation against the notorious rebel leader.

The minister also confirmed earlier official information that there were Arabs among the hostage-takers.

"Information that there were Arabs is being confirmed, as is information that there were people of other nationalities, including Russians, Ukrainians, Chechens and Ingushes," he said.

Lavrov also blamed the bloody school siege tragedy on Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov.

Maskhadov "openly stated that as long as Russia's policy in theNorth Caucasus remains unchanged, there is no avoiding terrorist acts. This is incitement of terrorism, if not verification of the fact he directed it all," Lavrov said.

He stressed that any calls from the West for negotiation with Maskhadov cannot be accepted as they would defy the anti-terrorist partnership that is developing between Russia and other countries,including the United States and Britain.

A group of armed militants seized a secondary school on Sept. 1,holding some 1,200 people hostages. The crisis ended on the third day as Russian troops launched an unplanned raid on the building after the raiders began to shoot fleeing hostages. Over 330 hostages, half of them children, were killed and over 700 others injured. Thirty-one hostage-takers were also killed.

Source: Xinhua