Beslan Appeal Collects 1 Million Signatures

Moscow Times: Beslan Appeal collects one million signatures from around the world.

MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - More than one million people from 112 countries across the world have signed the Beslan Appeal calling on the global community to unite in the fight against terrorism in the wake of last year's school siege in the Russian republic of North Ossetia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov handed over the signed appeal to North Ossetian Parliament Speaker Larissa Khabitsova on Thursday - the day marking the first anniversary of the Beslan hostage crisis that left 330 people dead, including 186 children. North Ossetian government officials and foreign diplomats attended the ceremony at the ministry's Moscow headquarters.

The signature campaign, initiated by North Ossetian anti-terrorist activists, lasted several months. Heads of state and government, lawmakers, politicians, community leaders, people in the arts, academics, and members of the general public from across the world responded by signing the appeal and expressing compassion and solidarity with those who lost their loved ones to the unspeakable terrorist act.

The largest number of signatures was collected in former Soviet countries, especially Uzbekistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Lithuania