The leader of the hostage-takers that raided a Russian school in Beslan early this month has been identified, a senior prosecutor said on Friday.

Examination on the corpse of the ringleader, who was killed along with other hostage-takers during gunfight with Russian troops, suggested that his name is Khochubarov Ruslan Tagirovich, Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov said.

Khochubarov and two other men were put on the wanted list for their suspected role in a murder case in 1998, but the investigation was suspended later due to failure to find the criminals, Kolesnikov said.

Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, in a statement posted Friday on a rebel website, claimed responsibility for a series of recent terrorist attacks in Russia, including the school hostage-taking tragedy that left more than 330 people dead, half of them children.

Kolesnikov cited investigation results as saying that besides Basayev, Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov also played a role in the Beslan terrorist action.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that Basayev's confession of responsibility for the terrorist attacks did not answer all other related questions, Interfax reported.

He insisted that these attacks were of international nature as Basayev has been financially supported from abroad.

Russia thanks the international community for its help in solving "specific problems" in Chechnya, Lavrov said after talks with Solomon Passe, Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, on Friday.

Russia has accused the West of imposing double standards on terrorism and flatly rejected the call for holding talks with terrorists.

Source: Xinhua