Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking to Russia's ambassador in Tel Aviv, said that Israel is prepared to render all possible assistance in settling the Moscow hostage crisis.
Sharon, in a conversation with Gennady Tarasov, added Thursday that Israel "totally supports the war against terrorism the Russian authorities are waging."
Late Wednesday night, Chechen guerrillas took hundreds of Moscow theatre-goers hostage and threatened to blow up the building and all inside if security forces tried to storm it. The armed Chechens have said they would wait for the federal authorities to fulfill their demands and pull troops out of their republic in 7 days and to put an end to the war there.
The Kremlin said on Thursday President Vladimir Putin had cancelled plans to attend a summit of Asia-Pacific nations in Mexico in order to handle crisis.
Putin was due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush at the weekend on the sidelines of the APEC summit to discuss the Iraqi issue. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
