2002-10-27 16:19 * BRITAIN * RUSSIA * TERRORISM * OPERATION * OPINION *

MEMBER OF BRITISH SPECIAL FORCES: HOSTAGE-RELEASING OPERATION IN MOSCOW WAS A SUCCESS

LONDON, October 27, 2002. /From RIA Novosti correspondent Sergei Kudasov/. The operation to free hostages in Moscow was a "success". This is the opinion expressed by a member of British special forces, who took part in 1980 in storming the Iranian embassy in London to release hostages.

According to him, Margaret Thatcher, the then British prime minister, was prepared to accept the death toll of 30 per cent of the hostages during the storming of the Iranian embassy in 1980.

Russians, however, managed to carry out a more successful hostage-releasing operation.

The British specialist assesses as entirely correct the decision to begin the storming of the palace of culture after the terrorists began shooting down hostages.

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