Armed Chechens take Moscow theater hostage

MOSCOW -- At least 40 armed Chechen rebels stormed a crowded theater and took hundreds of people hostage in the midst of a musical, threatening early Thursday to shoot their captives and blow up the building if Russian security forces attacked.\nSeveral hours after the rebels rushed the theater, firing automatic weapons, they began communicating with Russian officials by cell phone. The hostage-takers demanded that Russia end the war in Chechnya, a southern region where the army is fighting Islamic separatists.\nSome hostages reported seeing pools of blood but there was no confirmation of casualties.\nThe rebels have automatic weapons, grenades, belts with explosives attached, mines and canisters of gasoline. There is little water or food available for the hostages, lawmaker Yuli Rybakov told reporters outside the theater.\nHe said the gunmen told a national parliament member from Chechnya who was serving as a mediator that they wanted Russian troops to withdraw from Chechnya and implement a cease-fire.\nSeveral hostages, speaking by cell phone to various Russian television stations and news agencies, appealed to Russian security forces not to use force.\n"There are women, children, foreigners in here," cardiologist Maria Shkolnikova told REN TV. "We don't want the building to be stormed."\nShe said hostage-takers had lost family members in the war.\nAutomatic weapons fire rang out on at least four separate occasions. Security forces were on high alert throughout the Russian capital and around power plants after the audacious attack, which appeared to be meticulously planned.\nThe drama was a blow for President Vladimir Putin, who repeatedly has said Russia has the Chechnya situation under control. Putin scrapped his planned trips to Germany and Portugal, his spokesman, Alexei Gromov, told the Interfax news agency. It was unclear whether Putin would attend a weekend summit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he was to meet with President Bush.\nWhile Putin's popularity remains high, recent opinion polls show public support for the war starting to drop.\n"We condemn what's happening in Chechnya," Shkolnikova told REN TV.\nMoscow police spokesman Valery Gribakin said about 40-50 rebels were in the theater and they had released 100 women and children from the theater. News reports quoted some of them as saying there were pools of blood in the theater halls. The freed hostages were distraught, sobbing and shaking as they emerged from the building where they had been watching a popular musical based on a romantic novel.