Death Toll Rises In Moscow Raid

Two more hostages freed from a Moscow theater died from the effects of a gas pumped in during their rescue, health officials said, as politicians praised the Kremlin's handling of the crisis despite the heavy toll.

With the new deaths overnight in hospitals, there were contradictory reports over the total number of hostages killed during the stand-off. Lyubov Zhomova, a spokeswoman for the Moscow health committee, said the deaths brought the total to 119 killed, all but two from the gas. Another official said the total was 120.

Meanwhile, Danish police said they detained a top aide to Chechen rebel President Aslan Maskhadov, after Russia sought his extradition, saying the rebel envoy was suspected of involvement in the hostage-taking, as well as other terrorist attacks.

A judge ordered the aide, Akhmed Zakayev, who was in Copenhagen attending a World Chechen Congress, jailed until Nov. 12 pending an investigation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to crack down on "terrorists" it says were behind the raid, in which Chechen rebels held the theater for 58 hours until the special forces swept in Saturday. All 50 rebels were killed.

The Kremlin has remained silent over what gas was used, raising some muted complaints abroad — from the United States and, on Wednesday, from Britain.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the government would seek an explanation from Russian officials why they can't reveal it, though he said he would not criticize the Kremlin for using the gas, "because they were posed with the most difficult choices."

In Germany, blood and urine samples from two Germans freed from the theater and since flown home showed traces of halothane, a gas used as an inhalational anesthetic, the doctor who treated them said Wednesday.

But Dr. Thomas Zilker, a toxicology professor at Munich University Clinic, said he believed the incapacitating gas likely contained other substances as well.

U.S. officials said Tuesday the knockout gas was an aerosol form of Fentanyl, a fast-acting opiate with many medical applications, or possibly a derivative of it.

In Moscow, where several funerals were held for former hostages, the two houses of the Russian parliament began their sessions with a moment of silence for the victims of the theater raid.

The lower house, the State Duma, refused to consider a proposal by liberal lawmakers to form an independent commission to investigate how the hostage-takers had penetrated the center of Moscow with large amounts of weapons and explosives and how emergency services responded to the crisis.

The upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allocate an additional $95 million to fighting terrorism, according to the Interfax news agency.

The chamber also adopted a resolution praising law enforcement agencies "that saved hundreds of people" in the theater and vowing to take all necessary measures to fight terrorism.

The chairman of Russia's lower house of parliament, Gennady Seleznyov, called for Zakayev's extradition as soon as possible in comments to reporters before Wednesday's session of the State Duma, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Zakayev is an envoy for Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, who Russian officials have said was involved in the theater attack.

Russia's Prosecutor-General's office on Wednesday sent an extradition request to Danish authorities, Robert Adelkhanayan, head of the international law department, told ITAR-Tass.

In Copenhagen, Danish officials said it was possible to extradite Zakayev under the conditions of a European agreement on political crimes. "We are in a situation where in certain circumstances he can be extradited to Russia," Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen said, adding that Denmark would need "guarantees that he will not face the death penalty."

Russian officials have defended the rescue operation, saying the incapacitating gas was intended to prevent the hostage-takers from triggering explosives strapped to their waists and rigged around the theater.

In a poll of 1,600 Russians taken from Friday to Monday by the All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion, 85 percent of respondents said they approved of Putin's actions during the crisis and 82 percent said they approved of the actions of law enforcement agencies. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.8 percent, began before the crisis ended.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev also praised Putin's handling of the crisis.

"In those extreme circumstances that Russia lived through, Putin acted coolly and responsibly. I know it was not easy for him," Gorbachev wrote in Wednesday's addition of the official daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

The hostage crisis appeared to strengthen public support for the war in Chechnya. Forty-six percent of respondents said the military should continue its campaign in the rebel region; 44 percent said officials should begin peace talks. In September, 34 percent voiced support for continuing the war and 57 percent said talks should begin.

Zhemova, of the health committee, said the deaths overnight brought the total of hostages who died from the gas to 117. Two others were shot to death by rebels, Zhomova.

There were conflicting reports, however. Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, put the hostage death toll at 120 — 117 from the gas and three from gunshot wounds.

On Sunday, Moscow's chief city doctor said 116 hostages were killed by the gas, a toll that, if correct, would rise to 118 with the two deaths overnight.

As of Wednesday morning, 230 rescued hostages remained hospitalized, 15 of them in serious condition, the Interfax news agency said. A total of 434 patients had been released to anxious relatives.

The U.S. Embassy on Tuesday confirmed the death of hostage Sandy Booker, 49, an electrician from Oklahoma City. U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said one other American survived.