Nezavisimaya Gazeta October 29^th,

Nikolai Ostrovov

Yesterday the editorial offices of Nezavisimaya Gazeta received an official statement from Wolfgang Banjai, the press secretary of the Austrian embassy.  The statement reads: “On the evening of October 27^th there were reports in the Russian media that Dr. Franz Zepe, the Austrian ambassador, has allegedly declared that the cause of death of Austrian citizen Emilia Predova-Uzunov was pneumonia, and not from the gas used to free the hostages.  This was a false report.”

The statement reads: “In reality, the body of Mrs. Emilia Predova-Uzunov had only just been identified by a delegation from the Austrian embassy in Morgue #9 in the evening of October 27^th.  In the opinion Austrian police forensic physician Dr. Fuss, who was present at the identification of the body, the Austrian citizen had clearly died as a result of the gas used to free the hostages.”

The declaration stressed, “the Austrian embassy attaches great importance to the correction of yesterday’s false report.”