DUBAI, Sept 6 (AFP) - 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 told AFP, 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 330 people were killed -- half of them children -- in the end to the hostage-taking, which came Friday after Russian forces stormed the building.