S9 - 1 Embassy Takeover

S9 - 2 At 10 a.m., a guard at the French Embassy reports that a man wearing nothing but a wine barrel ran by him and into the Embassy. Screaming at the top of his voice in Macedonian and heavily accented French that the barrel contained explosives and if he were not allowed into the Embassy to present a petition to the Ambassador, he would detonate the barrel, blowing up himself, the Embassy, and a square block – killing hundreds.

S9 - 3 A junior French Embassy security officer on instructions from the Ambassador allowed him to proceed to the Ambassador’s office where they are now alone. A distraught middle-age lady appeared at the front entrance of the Embassy 10 minutes later explaining that she came looking for her son, who was mentally unbalanced and convinced that his brother was being detained by French police in Paris.

S9 - 4 She did not believe he had any explosives, but, in the past, he had worked in mines where he had handled explosives. While claiming him to be harmless, she also opined that he was capable of anything. The senior French Embassy security officer had arrived on the scene, and informed the police that, since he had heard nothing from the Ambassador’s office after having tried to telephone for over ten minutes, he and his aide now armed with automatic weapons planned to storm the office.

S9 - 5 The Macedonian guards and the senior police officers are now on the scene, and have advised that storming the office is not wise, but, in any event, they are beginning to evacuate the entire area.