MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Nikolai Bezborodov, a member of the State Commission on chemical disarmament and deputy chairman of the State Duma's defense committee, believes that the gas the special services used during the hostage-release operation in the Moscow theater is not of a type that is used for military purposes.
"Since the gas has only a temporary effect, we think it is not covered by the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," he told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
Bezborodov said that "our experts believe that this gas may produce only a temporary effect."
He said that "medics and special services use it."
"This gas is most likely a substance used by special services, which has antidotes," Bezborodov said.
Russian and foreign experts earlier spoke about the specific nature of the hostage-release operation in Moscow, since gas has never been used in spacious buildings with many rooms.
Bezborodov suggested that the amount of gas needed for the operation was a serious issue, since a mistake might have put its success, and thus lives of more than 700 hostages, at risk.
He said that if a smaller amount of gas was injected, "it would take longer for its effect to be felt, and the terrorists might have detonated the explosive devices."
The need to ensure the confidentiality of the operation presented another difficulty. "Large quantities of antidotes could not be handed over to medics due to the possibility of an information leak," he said.