Russians storm theater, end standoff with rebels

MOSCOW -- Special forces troops stormed a Moscow theater before sunrise Saturday, freeing hundreds of hostages held by Chechen rebels and killing their leader in a bloody end to the three-day standoff.

Dozens of bodies were seen being removed from the theater. Survivors were loaded onto buses, many in shock or unconscious. It was not clear exactly how many of the dead were hostages or rebels.

Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev said that about three dozen of the estimated 50 hostage-takers had been killed, but that some apparently had managed to escape.

"I would like to warn bandits and society that we have all information about them and that if they give up, we will guarantee their lives," he said.

He added that by storming the building, special forces avoided greater casualties and "the death of most of the hostages, including children."

Started killing captives

The rescue raid was launched after the rebels began executing captives, said Sergei Ignatchenko, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service.

President Vladimir Putin was informed and was following developments, Russian news agencies reported.

Earlier, officials said two hostages were killed and two injured before the special forces moved in. Two women escaped as soldiers armed with assault rifles were seen moving toward the theater, and two more ran from the building later while ambulances poured into the southeast Moscow neighborhood where the crisis began Wednesday evening.

The hostage-takers had earlier threatened to begin killing their captives before sunrise Saturday. After the two deaths, officials reached the captors by phone but then quickly said their negotiations had failed.

Movsar Barayev -- a young warlord who inherited a gang of rebels from his uncle, the infamous Arbi Barayev -- had led the group of as many as 50 heavily armed men and women into the theater in a bold raid less than three miles from the Kremlin.

Late Friday, a mediator who met with the gunmen said they promised to release the hostages if Putin declared an end to the war in Chechnya and began withdrawing troops.

The new demands were brought out of the theater just before midnight Friday by Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who is respected by Chechens for her reporting on the war and was called in by the rebels to mediate.

She listed rebel demands, and foremost among them were Putin's declaration of an end to the war and the start of a Russian withdrawal from one region anywhere in Chechnya to show good will. If verified, the rebels promised to free the hostages.

The demand was the first time that the gunmen revealed specific conditions for freeing the hostages, estimated to number as many as 800 and include Americans, Britons, Dutch, Australians, Canadians, Austrians and Germans.

Wired with explosives

The heavily armed hostage-takers had said they were ready to die and take their hostages with them if their demands weren't met, and witnesses said they had wired the building and themselves with explosives.

The gunmen released 19 hostages Friday, including eight children aged between 6 and 12. Seven adults were freed earlier in the day, and four citizens of Azerbaijan were freed after dark, officials said.