October 25, 2002

Seven hostages freed in Moscow siege

[...]The releases came shortly after the rebels allowed a television crew to meet their leader and some of the people being held inside for the first time.

The team from Russia's NTV channel arrived with a doctor who brought medicine for the hostages who are now into their third day of captivity, living in the auditorium on a diet of water and chocolate from the theatre buffet.

The rebels are threatening to blow themselves and the hostages up unless Russia withdraws its troops from Chechnya - they have killed one woman and wounded another as she escaped.

Russia's not going to withdraw troops from "Chechnya" and the hostage takers know this, I'm almost certain, so why they're giving it as a demand is vexing, to say the least.
Apparently, they mentioned money today as a possible demand which calls their "religious" and patriotic devotion into question.

The rebels have refused to accept hot food offered by the Russian authorities and many of the hostages have reportedly been tied in their seats.

Jordanian doctors allowed to visit the hostages on Thursday said they included many children.
[...]
The Arab satellite TV station al-Jazeera broadcast a tape on Thursday of what it said was one of the rebels stating that they were "ready to sacrifice for God and the independence of Chechnya".
Two 18-year-old girls escaped from the theatre on Thursday but one was lightly injured by a grenade thrown after her by the rebels. [2 blasts were heard this morning--Jen]

They managed to climb out of a window shortly after the body of another woman was brought out of the building.

Police in Moscow told the BBC they believed that the woman, in her 20s, was killed while trying to escape during the night and had had her wrists and fingers broken.

The rebels said they had killed an undercover woman FSB[Federal Security Service, like our F.B.I., probably formed on the remnants of the old KGB--J.T.] officer.

The rebels released about 200 hostages - children, Muslims, some foreigners and some people requiring health treatment in the hours after they invaded the theatre on Wednesday evening, in the middle of a sell-out musical.

From what I've been able to learn so far, the whole concept of "Chechnya" is a fabrication; there is no such place. (The Chechen problem in Russia is very similar to that of "Palestine" in the Middle East, with all the like problems including terrorism)
These terrorists are Al Queda funded and trained, for the most part, and are certainly Jihadi Muslims.
Note that their video "Mission Statement" went out on Al-Jazeera.
The Chechen threat hasn't been properly assessed by most of the world because the Media has persisted--even up until today--in calling them "freedom fighters" and "separatists," when they are, in fact, just another face of radical Islamism and Jihadi terrorism.
These hostage takers have made so many missteps that it's hard to say how this is going to end, but probably not very well.
Russia isn't going to get out of Chechnya and the crowd inside is only going to grow more restive as they get more tired and hungry.
Notice also that there are still a large number of children inside, whereas the initial reports by the Press led us to believe that they had released all the children (and Muslims) yesterday.
Putin gets as understandably angry about the Chechens as President Bush does about Al Queda attacks here and elsewhere.
Russia has already endured many Chechen attacks, large and small, with great loss of Russian life.
Should these hostages in the theatre all be blown up, it would be Russia's 9/11 (as with Australia's October 12 Bali blast).
The Chechens don't seem to have the "nerve" to kill all these people, to me, or it seems like they would have done it already, but maybe I'm just engaging in wishful thinking.
Equal odds, because I am unable to fathom the Jihadi Islamist mind. (Good thing,too!)
If there is a compromise to be made on that UN resolution between us and Russia, it will be a "Yes" vote for us in exchange for the U.S. letting Putin have a free hand in dealing with these "Chechens," which, given their strong Al Queda links, should have been a part of the entire World-Wide War on [IslamoFascist] Terrorism anyway.

Note:My American friend working in Moscow was mercifully not inside the theatre, but there are reportedly 3 other Americans inside, along with people from many other countries, together with Russian hostages.
I'm still saying a prayer for them all; I think this sounds like true torture and they are innocents.
All they did was go to a popular play.
Can you imagine this happening in NYC when you went to see "Cats" or "The Producers?"