Moscow's theatre of war

We will start shooting hostages, Chechen rebels warn

Chechen rebels said they would massacre hundreds of hostages huddled in a Moscow theatre if their demands for a Russian pullout from Chechnya were not met last night.

The threat, relayed by Russian negotiators, came despite an offer from the Kremlin aimed at ending the siege, by guaranteeing to spare the lives of the 50 gunmen and women if all the hostages were released. The militants were giving the Kremlin only until dawn today before taking "the most serious measures", one negotiator reported last night. They have already killed one woman hostage and wounded another as she escaped.

Emerging from five hours inside the theatre, a Russian journalist, Anna Politovskaya, a Chechnya specialist, said the negotiators were told: "The President must say himself that he is ending the war, they need his word. The second thing is that from one of the regions in Chechnya, the troops must be withdrawn as an example of what is to follow."

The Chechens say they will die along with their hostages unless their terms are met.

In the rainswept side streets around the grey-coloured theatre, soldiers ordered people to keep off streets and out of the line of fire of the rebels. Yevdokiya Isakova, a woman trying to reach her home, said: "I think something awful is going to happen I can't possibly see how it can be avoided."

The full scale of the danger for the 700 hostages was revealed early yesterday when the rebel leader, Movsar Barayev, appeared on Russian television in fatigues wearing a black hat and brandishing an assault rifle. He said his group, Allah Sahina, which he said means "Vowed to death in Islam", was "ready for anything". He said: "Our aim is to stop the war [in Chechnya] and get the troops out."

NTV television, which had been invited into the building by Barayev overnight, showed dramatic footage of the gun gang, some of them veiled women, who had strapped packs of explosives, wrapped in clear plastic, to their bodies ­ in effect, turning themselves into human bombs. The building is also believed to be booby-trapped.

"There is a big bomb in the centre of the hall," said Yelena Malyonkina, a theatre official who has been in touch by mobile phone with hostages. "All corridors and entrance ways are mined and watched by rebels. They are ready for anything."

The gang who seized the theatre on Wednesday during the second act of a popular musical, did release seven adults and eight children yesterday morning. The children, aged between six and 12, appeared to be in good health but were anxious at being separated from their parents still trapped inside. Last night, four more hostages, all from the Caucasus republic of Azerbaijan, were set free.

Early this morning, two ambulances drove to the theatre and crews were seen taking two people out of the building. Their condition wasn't known and there was no official comment.

The fate of 75 foreigners was still in the hands of the Chechen gang despite earlier hopes that they would be released.

Outside the building, about 100 of the hostages' grief-stricken families demonstrated for an end to the Chechen war. Some were detained by police as emotions spilt over. Alexander Petrov, a demonstrator who said he had friends inside the theatre, admitted he was not previously opposed to the Chechen war, but had now thought again.

Some Russians living close to the theatre said they were willing to see Chechnya given independence. "We should leave Chechnya and let them live as they want to live," said Sergei Makharov, a 28-year-old worker. He and others expressed the fear that there would be reprisals against Chechens in Moscow if the siege ended in a bloodbath.