Up to 700 people believed to be held hostage in Moscow

[Hurricane]

Let's hope this gets a peaceful ending.

Violence is not the right way to try to solve things.

[Serb]

Last news,
It’s admitted that Australian, Canadian and American citizens are among the hostages too.
I just saw video how small group of hostages are escaping. Total number grows to 52. No info about killed or injured. Also I just saw an interview with head of Muslim Church of Russia. He said that anything can’t justify such actions. That in accordance with Koran people who kill innocents will be punished in hell. Also he said that he had emergency meeting with president Putin and that president called this act- a provocation against all Muslim people of Russia. That people who did this would like to see grow of hatred between peoples of different religious confessions. The head of Muslim Church of Russia said that if those people consider themselves Muslims they should release all hostages, because there is no single goal, which deserves to be achieved, through such means as blood of innocent people.
Also I saw interview with Alexandr Zecalo popular showman and producer of this musical. He admitted again that there are still many children who are part of theater troupe held inside. And he asked terrorists once again to release children.
Now terrorists demand a foreign doctor who speaks Russian for negotiations. (I guess they don’t know what they actually want, so many different demands) However there is no info about victims among the hostages. Earlier there was information that terrorists threaten to start to kill hostages.

[Hurricane]

Sources in law enforcement told the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass that the hostage takers may belong to a group led by notorious Chechen field commander Movsar Barayev.

Seems this guy has risen from the dead. According to the Russian Information Centre tre:

On Saturday (12.10), the command of the Joint Group of Federal Forces in the North Caucasus officially confirmed death of Movsar Barayev, notorious leader of a terrorist grouping and nephew of cut-throat Arbi Barayev, who had been killed earlier. According to a deputy commander of the Joint Group, Lieutenant Colonel Boris Podoprigora, Movsar Barayev and his supporters were killed two days ago in the area of Komsomolskoye settlement as a result of pinpoint air and artillery strikes.

Boris Podoprigora stressed that "federal forces are carrying out operations against local bandits and Gelayev's militants who could infiltrate the area." According to the military command, 36 terrorists were killed over the past week. Eight bases with significant stock of arms, foodstuffs and equipment were destroyed. Podoprigora indicated that those were winter bases, the preparation of which militants had been engaged in over the recent period.

Pinpoint...

[Hurricane]

Originally posted by Serb
Several minutes ago one of the news chanels (almost all TV chanels show the situation on-line) said that they heard sound of explosion inside of the theater. They suggest it was grenade. They suggest that more probably it was acident, not the beggining of speznaz operation.

This was taken from Kavkaz.org, the chechen news agency (very biased, of course).

2002-10-24 11:34:21

Mujahideen threw grenade into empty room

Agency Kavkaz Center for a short period was contacted by assistant of Movsar Barayev and reported that the explosion really occurred in the building of the House of Culture. The reason for explosion was the grenade been thrown by Mujahideen into one of the empty rooms of the building for preventive measures. There are no casualties.

2002-10-24 10:47:32

Militiaman has been killed

Assistant of Movsar Barayev rang into editorial staff of Kavkaz Center and reported that at approximately 6 o'clock in the morning was killed one of the militiamen, who approached the central entrance of the House of Culture under the guise of a drunken person and asked to enter. After several warnings, mujahideen shot dead the militiaman.

EDIT: a woman (a FSB agent accoring to KavKaz) has also supposedly been shot dead by the chechen terrorists.

[Dr Strangelove]

I think that in the light of events transpiring over the past few weeks the United States should offer assistance to the Russian federation in support of their struggle against a common terrorist foe in the hopes that they will make a complimentary offer.

Are we going to wait for them to strike Western Europe as well?

[Eli]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Are we going to wait for them to strike Western Europe as well?

The answer is quite obvious.

[des-esseintes]

Edited by Ming...

If you continue posting crap like the stuff I just deleted, you are toast...

[The Mad Monk]

What the hell is your problem?

[SlowwHand]

Yo, des-esseintes. Your kindergarden teacher is looking for you.

A hostage has been killed.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
claiming the Russians deserved this,

Why should this thread be any different from the infinite ME threads, some of the 9/11 threads, etc.?

[Arrian]

I read Mobius' post in absolute shock, considering his posts in those ME threads, Dino.

Sloww - really? ****e.

I think it would be appropriate to keep discussions of cause and effect out of this thread, and just use it for news and expressions of sympathy and such.

We can do the analysis of "root causes" later.

-Arrian

[SlowwHand]

Chechen Gunmen Shoot Moscow Hostage
46 minutes ago

MOSCOW (AP) - Chechen gunmen shot and killed one of the hundreds of hostages being held at a Moscow theater, Russian news media reported Thursday.

The killing was believed to have taken place in the early hours of the crisis that began when gunmen stormed the theater at 9:05 p.m. Wednesday, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, citing an unnamed police official at the scene.


A television report showed a stretcher with a blanket-covered body being taken out of the theater.


The report of the killing came as the crisis showed no signs of resolution.

[Saint Marcus]

Why should this thread be any different from the infinite ME threads, some of the 9/11 threads, etc.?

were there "Americans deserved it" threads on sept 11? They didn't pop up until a week after the event I believe...so wait 7 days before posting this crap

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
were there "Americans deserved it" threads on sept 11?

I notice that you didn't touch the bit about the ME threads.

[Saint Marcus]