Crisis in Moscow is over (summary)(Prague Watchdog) 11:00 GMT - The drama of more than 800 people who have been since Wednesday evening held hostage by a group of about fifty Chechen fighters in a theatre in southeast Moscow ended on Saturday morning after Russian special forces stormed the building.
Russian authorities said that 50 Chechen fighters have been killed and three arrested as a result of the operation, during which a sleeping gas was used. However, at least 118 hostages died during or after the operation, Russian authorities admitted on Sunday morning.
Speculations also appeared that most of the dead civilians were not killed in a shoot-out but were poisoned by the sleeping gas. At the moment, this information cannot be confirmed, however. The Russian authorities imposed a ban on providing any information about the state of health of the hospitalised persons.
A group of fifty Chechen fighters led by Movsar Barayev seized the theatre in southeast Moscow during the Nord-Ost musical. They demanded an end to the war in Chechnya and the withdrawal of Russian troops from their republic. Having released some children, muslims and Caucasians, the fighters started threatening to blow the building up if the Russian forces try to storm it. The Russian leadership has not responded to their basic demand.
Foreign politicians condemned the hostage-taking. The Chechen diaspora in Russia as well as Chechen refugees in Ingushetia condemned the hostage-taking too. At the same time, however, many refugees expressed support to the requirement of the fighters.
President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov, who was blamed by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to have been aware or even masterminded the attack, said via his representatives that he does not support the use of terror. Maskhadov also called via his envoy Akhmad Zakayev on the Chechen fighters in Moscow, who threatened to start killing the refugees if their demands are not met, not to make "hasty moves".
The Chechen fighters' commander Movsar Barayev said in an interview for Russian television station NTV that it was Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev who masterminded the attack. (A,T) |
