After Beslan -- Slow Days in Dagestan

[bemildred]

Rumors were rife in Dagestan after the events in Beslan. The identity of the men who took the hostages is not being released by the official bodies but there were some Dagestanis in there according to the press.

One of my neighbors came back from a Cossack village north of here with a swollen jaw and he said it had come from the village elder's own son. The big story was put together from small stories such as this, that they would do what they did to him to all of us.

The people in this area have been nervous, fearing a response from "Federals" for Beslan. More official vehicles pass through town. In my opinion they fear the official vehicles more than the trucks and other vehicles of the Chechens, their Dagestani friends or individual bandit gangs that pass by our town. The officials from the Russian government come during the day, but the others come through after midnight. That's how life is in towns around the highways here.

Eight weeks later we have not seen any of these horrible things happen. Some people were beaten up at checkpoints. But the checkpoints have been there for many years now on our part of the highway. Everyone is a little poorer in their pocket when new personnel take new shifts. It is after some weeks that the distrust of the villagers and the guards is undone.

Sobaka