Swiss Police End Consulate Siege

Swiss special forces stormed the Spanish consulate Monday to end a standoff nearly seven hours after three assailants broke into the building in what authorities called an attempted robbery.

The special police unit went into the consulate around 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. EST), but it was not immediately clear whether they had captured the suspects, said Juerg Mosimann, a spokesoman for Bern cantonal (state) police. No shots were fired, he said.

The three masked assailants, believed to be armed with knives and a handgun, had seized the consulate in the Swiss capital shortly before 8 a.m., taking three people hostage, authorities said.

One hostage, a security guard, "was thrown out in the street and a passing-by police car detected it," reporter Hans Barenbold told Britain's Sky TV News. He was hospitalized with injuries.

Two other hostages were later let go, and Spanish authorities said there were no more staff inside.

Police sealed off Bern's upscale Kirchenfeld neighborhood, where the Spanish consulate and many other foreign diplomatic missions are located, Bern police spokeswoman Franziska Frey said.

Federal authorities also sent reinforcements, Federal Police Office spokeswoman Daniele Bersier said.

In Madrid, Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, called it an attempted robbery.

"They tried to steal passports and visas, which can be sold on the black market," Barenbold said.