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| Caucasus |
| Chechen killers threaten to begin executing hostages... |
| 2002-10-25 |
| Rebels holding hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theatre have reportedly threatened to start executing their captives on Saturday morning. The heavily armed group says it will start shooting people if its demand for a Russian withdrawal from the breakaway republic of Chechnya is not met, a theatre official has said after speaking to captives. The reported warning came as the Russian authorities offered to spare the lives of the Chechens if they release more than 600 remaining hostages unharmed. "Release them now and we won't kill you. If you don't, we will." Sounds like a pretty simple choice, if both side abide by the agreement. A Russian official has said the rebels have released four more captives - all of them Azeris, according to a rebel spokesman who spoke to the BBC. Azeris are a Turkic people who live on the Caspian Sea. They're predominately Muslim... Earlier on Friday, eight children and seven others were released, but hopes were dashed that the 75 foreign nationals inside the theatre might be freed when negotiations broke down. No, no. Foreign hostages are much more valuable than locals... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 I understand that there are Americans in the theater...there would be nothing better the Chechens could do to force the Georgians/Americans/Russians to turn the Pankisi Gorge into a bigger wasteland than it is now, than to start mass-executing Americans and/or Russians |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-10-25 21:49:18 |