MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian authorities were ready to exchange earlier detained militants charged with attacking Ingushetia in June 2004 for hostages in Beslan's school No. 1, Russian presidential adviser Aslambek Aslakhanov told journalists Friday.

Aslakhanov said he had had three phone conversations with terrorists who had kept children in the school gym, and after talks with the militants, he was ready to fly for a meeting with them.

"For a third time, I managed to reach terrorists on the phone on the evening of September 2, at about seven. I told them we were ready to discuss what they had been talking about - the release of their accomplices arrested for attacking Ingushetia. It has to be decided how many children you are ready to give for each militant - 10-20? We have something to talk about.

"They said they were expecting me the following day at 3:00 p.m. ... I flew for Beslan onboard a government plane, but when I arrived there and headed for the airport, an explosion sounded and then another one and I put my head in my hands - this was the end," Aslakhanov said.

Aslakhanov called his phone talks with terrorists "complicated," especially the first conversation. He said it had been hard to explain that most of the terrorists' demands were unrealizable, like the request for the withdrawal of troops from Chechnya within three days and the end to what he called a non-existent war.

The adviser said the terrorists had been unable to understand Chechen and had been talking in Russian.

"One person talked without an accent, another with a Caucasian accent, but not a Chechen or Ingush one," he said.

Aslakhanov did not say how he assessed the progress in the Beslan tragedy investigation. He said he had not testified on the Beslan crisis.