Chechen rebels released most of their 1,500 hostages from a hospital Monday and raced toward their homeland in a convoy of buses with dozens of officials and other volunteers acting as human shields.
A refrigerator truck carried the bodies of Chechen rebels killed before Moscow agreed Sunday to a cease-fire and new peace talks for the southern separatist republic.Most of the hostages seized five days ago were left behind, although about 150 people accompanied the gunmen aboard the seven red-and-white buses. Some were Russian journalists, local officials and members of the Russian parliament.
The buses, with most of their windows blacked out, were joined by police cars and an ambulance. The convoy faced a 90-mile, potentially hazardous journey south to Chechnya, and police officials suggested the civilians aboard the buses were at their own risk. Russian soldiers lined the route out of Budyonnovsk.
The rebels took the hostages when they invaded Budyonnovsk in southern Russia on Wednesday, demanding an end to Russia's war against Chechnya. A government attack on the hospital Saturday failed to free the hostages. The rebels freed more than 400, mostly women and children, over the weekend as talks continued with the government.
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin agreed Sunday to a number of the rebels' demands, although he stopped short of promising a withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya. The government promised to declare a cease-fire, resume peace talks and give the gunmen safe passage to Chechnya after the hostages were released.
As soon as the buses sped away from the hospital, Russian tanks and soldiers rushed forward to stop relatives and friends of the hostages who tried to get into the building. About a dozen ambulances raced to the hospital to evacuate and treat wounded hostages.
About 50 bodies of civilians killed during the six-day siege remained inside the hospital, local officials said.
The release had been delayed for nine hours while the Chechens insisted that some of the hostages accompany them. Cherno- myrdin had demanded that all hostages be freed. Officials later compromised and allowed about 100 hostages to leave as "volunteers." "The term `hostage' ceases to exist the moment you board the bus," said Vladimir Varzhtsev, an Interior Ministry spokesman. "From then on, you are voluntarily accompanying the terrorists."
In past hostage incidents, Russian authorities have capitulated to terrorist demands, only to attack later, often with disastrous results.
Several times Monday, Chernomyrdin appeared on Russian television speaking by telephone with rebel leader Shamil Basayev.
"All hostages must be left in the hospital," Chernomyrdin told him at one point. "The volunteers - that is another story. Shamil! Shamil! Wait a second! How can I guarantee you safe passage if you have some hostages with you?"
Early Monday, peace talks began in the Chechen capital, Grozny, between a high-level Russian delegation and a group sent by Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev.
The Russian military declared a cease-fire Sunday night in Chechnya. Both actions satisfied demands made by Basayev's group.
The Chechen delegation to Monday's peace talks was led by Usman Imayev, Dudayev's justice minister, and Aslan Maskhadov, the chief of staff of Dudayev's forces.
The Russians previously had been reluctant to talk to close associates of Dudayev, who has been denounced by Moscow as a terrorist.
During his talks with Basayev, Chernomyrdin appeared to concede on many key points.
His actions appeared in sharp contrast to those of President Boris Yeltsin, who said he had authorized the use of force in Budyon- novsk before flying to the Group of Seven summit last Thursday. Yeltsin has since returned to Moscow and was back at work at the Kremlin Monday, a spokesman said.
Chernomyrdin made no commitment to pull the Russian army out of Chechnya - a main rebel demand. Previous negotiations and cease-fires in the 6-month-old war all have broken down quickly.
More than 100 people have been killed since the Chechens attacked the southern city on Wednesday. Dozens were killed or wounded in the army's two failed attacks to free the hostages on Saturday.
Basayev said his force numbers 127 fighters; Russian authorities say it is no greater than 50.
Budyonnovsk, a city of 54,000 people, is in the steppes of southern Russia about 960 miles south of Moscow. It is the site of a major chemical plant.