Russian ambassador taken hostage in embassy siege

An armed Uzbek man today took eight hostages at the Russian Embassy in Costa Rica, federal police said.

Among those being held was the Russian ambassador, Valery Nikolayenko, federal police spokesman Francisco Ruiz said.

Police surrounded the building in San Jose, the capital. Ruiz said an armed man between 17 and 20 years old from Uzbekistan entered the embassy with his mother and took five men and two other women hostage.

The man’s mother was being considered a hostage by police.

Ruiz said authorities outside the embassy were trying to negotiate with the man, who was not identified.

In Russia, the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted the ambassador as saying by telephone “at the present time we and the police are investigating the situation.”

The Costa Rica TV network, Telenoticias, reported that the man was apparently upset because the embassy had not processed paperwork. But it was not immediately known whether the paperwork was for him or his mother and what kind of paperwork it was.