A car stuffed with explosives has been found near the headquarters in Beslan.

Officials confirm the seizure was masterminded by Shamil Basaev, and implemented Magomet Yevloev. Abu Omar Al-Seid is reported to be the financier of the seizure.

Notes on Shamil Basaeve here. Basaeve also claimed responsibility for th e Moscow theater siege in 2002.

The only thing I could find about Yevloev is here.

Can't find any information on al-Seid, still looking.

UPDATE:

The explosives in a car story is being refuted.

Interfax reports that the leader of the terrorists is holed up in the basement of the school.

UPDATE:

Looks like his name is Magomed "Magas" Evloev, not as spelled above. Evloeve was though to be killed in June, but doubts were cast on that. Obviously. He was supposedely the leader of these raids.

60 hostages confirmed dead and identified.

Twenty-three bodies, including 17 children, were lying outside a local hospital morgue, Reuters quoted its reporter as saying. “I can see 23 bodies lying outside the hospital morgue, six of them are in uniform and 17 are children,” he said. Medical staff told him at least 10 more bodies were inside the morgue.

UPDATE:

Interfax:

Nine of the gunmen killed in the hostage standoff in the North Ossetian town of Beslan on Friday were mercenaries from Arab countries, Russian presidential advisor Aslanbek Aslakhanov told journalists at the scene. He described the hostage-takers who seized a school on Wednesday as "an international gang."