Russian gunman apprehended at KGB HQ

Russian security forces today seized a man who claimed he was armed with explosives and threatened to blow up his truck in front of the former KGB headquarters in Moscow.

They grabbed an automatic rifle the man was carrying. He then got out of the truck and was taken into custody

The man had demanded talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Police and security forces rushed to the Federal Security Service building, within blocks of the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi Ballet, and surrounded the man, who claimed to have one and a half tons of explosives.

Negotiations continued for about 90 minutes outside the Lubyanka building, former home of the feared KGB.

The man later drove away to a street near Moscow’s Olympic Penta Hotel, where authorities held further negotiations with him, said Moscow police. The move appeared to be an attempt by security services to get him to a more secure location.

The man was described as heavyset, between 30 and 40 years old, and dressed in a tracksuit, and he was in a highly excited state - perhaps drunk, according to Ekho Moskvy radio. He was driving a small white truck with licence plates from the central Russian region of Udmurtia,.

The threat came as the nation observed a day of mourning for 116 Russian servicemen and others killed in a fiery helicopter crash in Chechnya earlier this week.