Word: basayev
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...face a bloodbath. As government forces kept a tense vigil outside the hospital, stories quickly spread that to discourage rescue attempts the terrorists had mined the building and splashed gasoline on the hostages-numbering by some estimates close to 2,000. Ratcheting up the war of nerves, Shamil Basayev, a top rebel commander and leader of the operation, told journalists at a hastily improvised press conference: "It does not matter to us when we die. If necessary, we will shoot the hostages...
...windows as targets. Both sides agreed to a cease-fire, and 227 hostages were freed; but shooting resumed again after five hours. When a second Russian attempt to storm the hospital failed, an uneasy stalemate settled in. Chernomyrdin moved to break the deadlock by calling rebel leader Basayev directly by telephone at the hospital to discuss conditions for the release of the hostages, including a cease-fire in the Chechen war. Yeltsin meanwhile had gone to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the summit of the seven leading economic powers was being held. After meeting with Yeltsin, the seven condemned violence...
Russian officials are threatening to resume fighting in Chechnya unless rebels surrender Shamil Basayev, the commander of the hostage-takers. Col-Gen. Anatoly Kulikov, commander of the Russian forces in Chechnya, gave the Chechens until this evening to comply, but so far they have refused. The fallout from the hostage-taking continues in Moscow, wherePresident Boris Yeltsin's governmentreceived a no-confidence vote from Parliament. While Russia's constitution allows Yeltsin to ignore the largely symbolic vote, he cannot dismiss the fact that his support in the Duma is evaporating rapidly: members are now circulating a petition to impeach...
...More than 150 people volunteered to go along as human shields to insure the rebels' safety as the Chechens departed in a bus convoy. The gunmen agreed to release the hostages after Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomydrin, in a series of dramatic televised telephone negotiations with rebel leader Shamil Basayev, agreed todeclare a ceasefire in Chechnya, resume peace talks and give the gunmen safe passage home. The normally reticent Chernomyrdin surprised many with his decisive action. The government had endured a firestorm of criticism overPresident Boris Yeltsin's decision to attend the G-7 meeting rather than stay to deal...
Saying "It is necessary to use force to liquidate the bandits," Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev advocated storming the hospital where Chechen rebels hold over 1,000 hostages. A defiant Shamil Basayev, the leader of the rebel group, defied Grachev, saying: "Let them come and storm the place." Negotiations in the three-day old crisis have hit a standstill as the 200 rebels holed up inside the building rejected an offer of safe passage to Chechnya or any country willing to accept them. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is on his way to attempt a peaceful resolution, but his chances appear...