Putin OKs probe by parliament of school siege

MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin agreed Friday to a parliamentary investigation of the bloody school hostage siege in southern Russia, less than a week after he reportedly dismissed the idea by saying it might turn into "a political show."
The move by Putin seeks to deflect criticism after he had earlier ruled out a public probe of the standoff in Beslan, which the government has attributed to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev.
Russian officials have also repeatedly cast the military campaign in Chechnya as part of a war against international terrorism.
In a meeting shown prominently on state-run television, the lawmaker who heads Russia's upper house of parliament, Sergei Mironov, told Putin the Federation Council would aim to form an investigative commission.
Putin agreed, telling Mironov in the Kremlin meeting that "we are thoroughly interested in receiving a complete, objective picture of the tragic events connected with the seizure of the hostages."
The president reportedly said only an internal inquiry would be conducted into the crisis that ended Sept. 3 in a chaos of gunfire and explosions and killed at least 330 hostages, warning that a parliamentary probe could turn into "a political show."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Basayev directed the hostage-taking raid.
"I know for certain, that Shamil Basayev directly managed this operation," Lavrov said, according to the transcript of an interview with Al-Jazeera television that was released by the Foreign Ministry.
Other Russian officials had said evidence linked Basayev to the attack, but Lavrov's statement was the clearest accusation against the rebel leader.