Editorial: Rebels take terror to a new low

COMMENT

To all intents, world leaders held nothing back as they condemned the taking of children as hostages in southern Russia.

"Only hardcore criminals, completely devoid of any human feelings or compassion, are capable of committing such an act against schoolchildren," said Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. The international community, as one, agreed. Yet Mr Kuchma, and other leaders, were keeping something from the public gaze - their increasing sense of helplessness. More and more, they are becoming hostages to predicaments that are as awful as they are insoluble.

None can now feel confident they are immune to the terrible decisions associated with terrorism. France led the opposition to the American invasion of Iraq. Yet two French journalists who are being held hostage in Iraq face death if their Government does not scrap a new law banning Muslim headscarves in public schools. And in Kathmandu, a Government is under siege for failing to save the lives of 12 Nepalese cooks and cleaners taken hostage in Iraq.

When hostage-takers strike, there is, in fact, no choice for courageous leaders. To submit to the demands of terrorists is simply to invite more terrorism - and more demands. In cases such as that in North Ossetia, military intervention must always be an option, even if, with children involved, it becomes absolutely the last resort. Some, of course, have run up the white flag. The Philippines bowed to the demand of hostage-takers and withdrew its forces from Iraq. It will come to regret that, whatever the short-term applause of many Filipinos.

Defeating terrorism is about confrontation, not capitulation. Take the hijacking of airliners to Cuba some time back. It became commonplace because it was condoned. When Fidel Castro started jailing the hijackers, it ended very quickly.

The hostage-taking in North Ossetia is, of course, a new low, even for the scourge that is terrorism. For the first time, children have been deliberately targeted. It begs the question: where will it stop? In fact, it marks an end for the Chechen rebels. Any chance of attracting international backing for an independent Chechnya evaporated at School No 1 in Breslan. Just as support for the Palestinian cause evaporated when Black September overstepped the bounds of humanity at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Once, it was possible to feel sympathy for the Chechens. Historically, the region has resisted Russian rule, and its push for independence was prompted purely by nationalism. Equally, Russia's reasons for denying that right were hardly compelling. Important oil pipelines cross the region, and Moscow fears the unsettling impact of an independent Chechnya on other Muslim-majority areas.

However, the Chechen rebels have systematically undermined their own case. Increasingly, they have espoused Muslim fundamentalism. This, and the presence of foreign Muslim fighters, has enabled Russia to present the conflict as part of the international terrorist threat spearheaded by al Qaeda. Now, despicably, the rebels have stooped to involving children in their desperate campaign. On any count, this is a new low - for humanity and for their cause.