CANBERRA, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday condemned Russian hostages crisis which ended in heavy casualty and expressed condolence for those who were killed in the incident.

    Howard was responding to the bloody end of the Russian hostages crisis, in which a total of 250 people have reportedly died.

    Chechen separatists had been holding around 1,000 hostages, most of them children, in a school in Beslan, the North Ossetia Republic of Russia since Wednesday.

    The Russian government forces stormed the school on Friday and exchanged gunfire with the terrorists in an unplanned rescue operation.

    Howard said he and his wife watched television footage of the siege last night, adding he has "every sympathy and sorrow" for the parents.

    "The poor parents, can you imagine what it would be like to have both your children in there?" he told reporters.

    Howard said he had sent a message of sympathy, concern and condolence to Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing Australia 's shock and dismay.

    "I think there is commonality in the obscene, indiscriminate indifference in such a cruel way to human rights," he said.

    "The use of innocent children in such a brutal and indiscriminate way is a reminder of the evil heart and the evil mind of the terrorists," he said.

    "It's a time when people all around the world must think of those things that divide good from evil and right from wrong," said the prime minister.

    Australian Opposition leader Mark Latham also expressed sympathy to the victims, saying the hostage takers deserve "absolute condemnation" and "the harshest punishment." Enditem