MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti) - Law enforcement men have taken the municipal administration house by storm and fully cleared it of rebels in Andizhan, in the country's south, a local informant said to RIA Novosti over the telephone.
Skirmishes and blasts are no longer heard in the city, he added.
Rebels had seized the premises and taken women and children hostage. Authorities were negotiating with them all day long. President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan was in the city throughout the dramatic time, report his PR.
"Authorities' spokesmen were in intense negotiations with paramilitaries who had seized the premises. The rebels are using women and children as a live shield, and would not consent to whatever compromise," the presidential press service said in an official statement.
