Robbers flee before troops hit consulate

SWISS special forces stormed the Spanish consulate yesterday to end a hostage stand-off, only to find the suspected robbers had left the building six hours earlier and eluded police.

The three masked assailants seized the consulate in the Swiss capital shortly before 8am (7am Irish time), taking three people hostage, but apparently left the building almost immediately and before police arrived, said Major Peter Theilkaes, the leader of the police operation.

One hostage managed to escape immediately and the two others were able to leave the building with police protection around two and a half hours later.

"As soon as it was ascertained that no more consulate workers were in the building, the police checked the building and found it empty," the statement said. "The assailants had already fled. From that, we conclude that the attack was of a criminal nature and did not have a political background."

The assailants told the two consulate workers to open a safe, but they did not have the combination, Spain's Foreign Ministry said. They then ordered the two hostages a man and a woman who have not been identified into a separate room.

Neither the workers nor the police knew that the robbers had left the building.

Spain's Foreign Ministry said it has no evidence that anything was stolen from the consulate.

The safe, which the assailants tried to open, contained money, passports and visas, said spokesman Angel Vazquez.

"From the outset the assailants were interested in the safe," Vazquez said.

"The contents of the safe are secure." Swiss and Spanish authorities gave no further information on the identities of the attackers.