(13 Jan 2006) SHOTLIST

1. Wide shot of city
2. Bell tower on skyline
3. Burning candles
4. Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus holding wreath
5. Wide shot of honour guard
6. Wide shot of Adamkus and other officials laying wreaths
7. Wide shot of crowd, guard in foreground
8. Close-up of Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania's pro-independence leader of the 1990s, laying flowers
9. Wide shot of ceremony
10. Military guard
11. SOUNDBITE (English): Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania:
"It symbolises the re-commitment of our nation today to ideals of democracy, of freedom and re-commitment to defend those principles. We have proven to the rest of the world that we are standing together with the community of free people and definitely dedicating our lives, our efforts and our freedom to sustain those principles."
12. Wide shot of memorial

STORYLINE

Lithuanians marked on Friday, the 15th anniversary of the siege of Vilnius television tower by Soviet troops that left 14 people dead and hundreds wounded.

The attack, on January 13, 1991, and another in neighbouring Latvia a week later that left five dead, represented a last show of force in the Baltics for the crumbling Soviet empire.

Far from quashing hopes of independence, the attacks only emboldened hundreds of thousands of Baltic residents to demand freedom, which they gained later that year.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, who attended the ceremony, said: "It symbolises the re-commitment of our nation today to ideals of democracy, of freedom and re-commitment to defend those principles."

About one thousand people gathered in Antalkalnis cemetery for a ceremony to mourn for those who died 15 years ago.

Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania's pro-independence leader of the 1990s, was amongst the key political figures of modern Lithuania who attended the ceremony.

Landsbergis placed a wreath on the memorial.

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