thomar

thanks.

Bus hijackers could be Albanian By Karolos Grohmann Click to enlarge photo ATHENS (Reuters) - Two gunmen thought to be Albanians have hijacked a Greek bus with 23 passengers on board in Athens and demanded a $1 million (510,000 pound) ransom and a plane to fly them to Russia. As night fell on Wednesday, 12 hours after the early morning drama began, the gunmen had released 12 hostages in several batches through the day leaving 11 -- six men and five women -- still captive. Click to enlarge photo Hundreds of police officers, snipers in camouflage fatigues and special forces were in position around the vehicle. A hostage on board the bus said the gunmen had explosives. Negotiators were also on the scene as well as dozens of concerned hostages' relatives. As the standoff gripped the nation, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis postponed his departure for a European Union summit in Brussels by one day until Thursday. "The figure of $1 million (ransom) has been mentioned in negotiations with the hijackers, but they have given no other details regarding where they want to go to," a senior police official told Reuters. But Stella Matara, a hostage still on the bus, told state-run television in a mobile phone call that the hijackers planned to release all women prisoners once a driver joined the vehicle. She said they wanted a plane to take them to Russia. The original driver, a ticket collector and a woman passenger managed to escape from the bus in the first seconds of the hijack when shots were fired during the takeover. "THEY HAVE DYNAMITE" "They want a police bus to leave from in front of our bus, as well as a driver to take them to the airport," Matara said. "As soon as the driver comes, they will release all women. At the airport, they want a plane to take them to Russia, and then they will release the rest of the hostages," she added. "They have guns, they have dynamite." There have been no reports of injuries, but live television showed one gunman approaching the front of the bus and firing off two warning shots. The curtains in the bus windows were closed, blocking views inside, and a police helicopter hovered above. Television pictures had earlier shown one man carrying a rifle and standing inside the bus near the front seats. After a visit to the hijack scene by Albania's ambassador and telephone talks between the law and order ministers of Greece and Albania, a senior police official told Reuters authorities believed the gunmen were Albanians. "Unless we see their passports we can't be 100 percent certain, but we are operating now on the belief they are from Albania," the official said. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians live in Greece. Many came from the neighbouring country to help with construction work for the Athens Olympics. SEIZED ON MARATHON HIGHWAY The bus was seized along a highway from the Athens suburb of Marathon, used in the Olympic race of the same name this summer. The first of the hostages freed, a grey-haired man who looked to be in his 50s, stepped out of the bus with his hands raised and walked to waiting police. "My dad has a heart condition," Vassilis Bratsiakos said. "I am just happy he is well and far away from the bus." He was freed about five hours after the 6 a.m. (4 a.m. British time) hijack. "I don't care what they are or who they are. I want them to release my wife," said an elderly man who was among dozens of relatives of hostages who rushed to the scene. "She told me she is fine and things are quiet on the bus but she sounded terrified." The seizure of the bus was the first such incident since a spate of bus hijackings in Greece in 1999-2000. First police reports had said there were 26 hostages on board the bus but as hostages were released and police learned more about the situation on the vehicle the figure was revised first to 24 and then to 23. The last such incident was in November 2000 when a bus carrying 35 Japanese tourists was hijacked by a man who surrendered to a TV talk show host after a nine-hour standoff. Two hijackings by Albanians in 1999 ended with the two hostage-takers being killed by police.

i don't even get the RA newsletter?! i just put up my rview for hernan. check the event review section and you'll see it!

w/ behrouz! GK will not be going.

true dat. and his recording from the "Donkey Show."

nothing is going on. come up for the 1st wknd w/ sasha. it was amazing at the beginning of this month!

hear you may be in the hood for nye?

yes, i am alive! i've been missing lately due to my computer being busted. piece of shit. anywho, party sounded fun and i think gina was holding up rocky during the call

real is playing roma and they didn't let anyone in the stadium. you can hear everything on the pick and all you can see is the concrete stands. it's all very odd.

the screen fucking broke on my laptop on mondy night. it sucks. i bought that piece fo shit sony in july and now i've got to wait 2-4 weeks to get it back how is everyone else?

that's true. and when he does- LOOK OUT!

i didn't get one! i now rescind my previous comment from last week!

TRUE. absolutely true. he told me he can't wait to get back for X-Mas. he may return early just to party on the North Coast!

tan it up dude! well, put on spf 45 and then tan it up!

went to sasha on friday- hernan next friday. i'd ask you, but you won't go!

that zone stuff is for the birdds!

don't think the ladies in my life would approve. how 'bout free entrance instead

i'm the N American editor- or something. i do articles, party reviews, photos, etc. i hope to have it get me around the country (and canada) a bit!

will get in touch w/ them later on- Fam is here! getting together w/ them may be difficult as i'm not in d.c.! also, what are those places like?

with that attitude- maybe i will!

I now work for RA!

NYE is real up in the air for me- still. not sure if i'll be here or not. no bookings are planned, but there may be an EPIC set played somewhere. not sure yet. i'll fill ya in when i know. there is always sarsha the next weekend v-man!

i don't live in DC! but if i was there i'd be at Tiny's part-ay! sorry. although i'm gonna try and see you folks at sulli on saturday. good luck!

nah . . . . YOUR DAD'S HOUSE! (I SET YOU UP FOR THAT ONE)

1st mate.