BESLAN, North Ossetia. Sept 3 (Interfax-AVN) - The operational headquarters has resumed contact with the terrorists who are holding more than 300 people hostage in a school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan in southern Russia, Valery Andreyev, the headquarters' chief, told journalists.
"Contact was resumed at 7:30 a.m. Moscow time (0330 GMT) on Friday," said Andreyev, who is also head of the Russian Federal Security Service's branch for North Ossetia.
"Unfortunately, we have not managed to resolve the problem of providing food and water supplies for the hostages after contact was re-established at 7:30 a.m.," he said.
"The terrorists shelled the territory surrounding the school on a number of occasions last night. Their strikes, which involved firearms and grenade launchers, were unmotivated," Andreyev said.
The operational headquarters will continue its attempts to convince the terrorists to release the hostages, primarily all the children. "Talks will continue. They will be handled by those who are capable of helping the situation take a positive turn," he said.
"Contact has been re-established with the terrorists, and work is continuing," he said.