Terrorists say they'll shoot hostages at 7pm
Fears are growing tonight for hundreds of hostages who were spending a third night at the mercy of Chechen rebels in a Moscow theatre.
A Russian negotiator said the terrorists claimed they would start shooting hostages at 7pm Irish time.
The heavily-armed terrorists threatened to begin shooting hostages unless Russian forces started to pull out of the breakaway republic of Chechnya, the scene of a long-running war between government troops and separatist rebels.
Eight children, one of them Swiss, and seven Russian men and women were released earlier today, but the crisis deepened as the rebels made the new death threats and negotiations stalled.
“We are very concerned that no other hostages have been freed and that the terrorists are not prepared to discuss the release of other hostages,” said the US Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow.
A Western diplomatic source added: “They do not want to release foreigners and they do not want to separate foreigners from the rest of the group because they are afraid that the release of the foreigners would draw attention away from the crisis.”
It had been hoped that some 75 foreign nationals, including Britons Richard Low and his mother Sidica, would be released, but diplomatic sources said the gunmen and women – around 50 in number – reneged on an agreement to free them.
One source said: “When the Red Cross went in to work out the process for the release, they were told foreigners would not be released. There is no indication that they are going to be released.”
Russian police, interior ministry troops and special forces continue to surround the theatre.
It is estimated that between 600 and 800 people are trapped inside the building, with bombs primed for detonation inside.
A spokesman for Russia’s Federal Security Service said the new threats to kill hostages came despite promises that the hostage-takers’ lives would be guaranteed if they freed all their captives.
Such promises had little influence on the terrorists. The Qatar-based satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera broadcast a statement in which one alleged terrorist said: “I swear by God we are more keen on dying than you are keen on living. Each one of us is willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of God and the independence of Chechnya.”
Freed hostages also told of worsening conditions in the building.
A hot water pipe is understood to have burst, causing flooding, and the hostages are using the orchestra pit as a toilet.
Outside the theatre desperate relatives held protests against the war in Chechnya in a bid to convince President Vladimir Putin to give in to the terrorists’ demands.
The rebels have killed one woman and wounded another as they tried to escape.
Between 100 and 200 hostages, mainly women and children, were released shortly after the siege started – which was just before the second act of the popular Russian musical Nord-Ost.
Americans, Dutch, Australians, Austrians and Germans are among those being held.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the Prime Minister Tony Blair would telephone President Putin to offer his backing in the handling of the siege.
“The message will be the one we have given already to the Russians which is that we fully support their fight against terrorism,” Mr Straw told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“It is of paramount importance that all the actions that are taken are taken to ensure the safety of the hostages and a peaceful outcome to what has happened,” he added.
