(3 Jan 2000) Natural Sound

Four rocket-propelled grenades have struck the Russian embassy in Beirut - killing one Lebanese police officer and wounding six.

Police guarding the embassy returned fire towards the compound at the busy Corniche thoroughfare, killing one of the assailants.

The perpetrators of Monday's midday attack have not yet been identified.

Within minutes of the attack, policemen from the nearby Helou Barracks ran into the streets around the embassy.

They returned a barrage of fire at the unknown assailants firing from a nearby building inside the embassy grounds.

Some gunmen had apparently taken up positions inside the embassy compound in Mazraa, Beirut's Muslim quarter.

The surrounding streets were immediately cleared of traffic and ambulances with sirens wailing sped toward the embassy.

Lebanese police and army took cover behind cars and armoured vehicles as they approached the building where the assailants were seen firing from.

Troops carrying assault rifles ordered people indoors as they secured the area.

Shopkeepers shuttered their stores and evacuated while police and army forces searched for the attackers.

The cordon was lifted about two hours later.

A Russian diplomat said there were no Russian casualties in the assault.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but it may be related to Russia's war against Muslim rebels in Chechnya.

Lebanese militants opposed to Russia's military campaign against fellow Muslims in the Caucasus have staged protests against Moscow and have been raising money for the beleaguered Chechens.

The leaders of the rebel republic demanded independence when the Soviet Union split apart in 1991, but Moscow refused to let the territory secede.

When the Russian troops withdrew at the end of the 1994-96 war, Chechnya had de-facto independence, though neither Russia nor any other country recognised the claim.

Russian troops re-entered Chechnya in September of 1999 after Chechen-based militants invaded a neighbouring region and were blamed for several bombings elsewhere in Russia.

Russians alarmed by kidnappings and other violence that have plagued the Caucasus region in recent years largely support the war.

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