MOSCOW (AFP) - Feared Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for the deadly school hostage taking in southern Russia that killed more than 330 people, must be caught and brought to justice, not killed, Russia's deputy prosecutor said.
"I really hope that he does not get killed in a special operation. I want us to catch him" and judge him, Russian deputy prosecutor general Vladimir Kolesnikov said of Basayev on NTV television.
Kolesnikov said Russia had established the responsibility of Basayev and Chechen separatist president Aslan Maskhadov in the school hostage siege in southern Russia that killed at least 339 people, half of them children.
"Today, the inquiry has objectively established the role of this monster and of this so-called president in this in this crime," said Kolesnikov.
Maskhadov has denied involvement in the tragedy.
Basayev earlier Friday claimed responsibility for the Beslan hostage taking, according to a rebel website.
Rebels commanded by Basayev have "carried out a series of successful military operations," including "the operation in the town of Beslan," said a letter signed by the 39-year-old and posted on the rebel website kavkazcenter.com.
Its authenticity could not be immediately verified, but Chechen rebels often post their statements on the site, which is operated out of Lithuania's capital Vilnius.
Basayev also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 10 people at a Moscow subway stop on August 31, the day before the Beslan hostage taking, and for the downing of two airplanes that occurred a week prior and killed 90 people.
Russia considers Basayev its public enemy number one and has offered a 10 million-dollar reward both for him and Maskhadov, generally considered to be more moderate.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Friday that Basayev "is not worthy of existence."
Kolesnikov also said the hostage takers' leader at the Beslan school siege, known under the nickname "the colonel", had been identified.
"His identity has been established during the inquiry," Kolesnikov said, adding that his name was Ruslan Khochubarov, born in 1972.
Regarding the hostages that were killed in the Beslan school siege, Kolesnikov said that 242 bodies had been identified, including those of 119 children. Eighty two bodies, including 50 children, still awaited identification, as well as 88 body parts, he added.