Wednesday 25.12.2002, CET 03:07 December 24, 2002 7:45 PM Moscow police arrest men strapped with explosives MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow police say they have arrested two men carrying hand grenades and explosives, prompting fears of a new attack in a city still reeling from a deadly October theatre siege by Chechen guerrillas.

Police declined to identify the men, but local media said they were Chechens who had explosives strapped to their belts. Such devices were used by the rebels who seized some 800 Moscow theatre-goers in October.

"Each of them carried a device containing something like 300 grams (10 ounces) of explosives and two or three hand grenades," police spokesman Kirill Mazurin told Reuters on Tuesday.

He said they originated in Russia's turbulent southern rim, but gave no other details.

Interfax news agency quoted police sources as saying the two were Chechens. But the sources dismissed media reports that they might have been suicide bombers, saying they were more likely to have been planning to plant the bombs in Moscow.

NTV television reported from a police station in southwest Moscow, where the detainees were being held, that police stopped the pair after they entered a busy market.

Mazurin said police had been observing the men for some time and had no reason to suspect them of complicity with Chechen rebels, who in October seized a Moscow theatre.

Reuters

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2002