A Russian security agent who offered himself as a gunman's hostage , in place of a Swedish diplomat, died of a heart attack not in a shoot out, according to Russia's security chief.

Nikolai Kovalyov, the Director of the Federal Security Service -- the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB -- has dismissed reports that Anatoly Savelyev was shot dead when anti-terrorist Alpha troops opened fire on the kidnapper inside the Swedish Embassy in Moscow.

Mr Kovalyov confirmed that the 51-year-old security agent was shot in the leg during the barrage of gunfire that killed the hostage-taker, but doctors said the wound was not life-threatening.

However, many details of the events leading to the deaths of Mr Savelyev, a colonel with the Federal Security Service (FSB), and of the attacker remain unclear.

There were earlier reports that Mr Savelyev was struck by several shots when FSB marksmen opened fire as he lay prostrate on the ground.

The injured negotiator, Anatoly Savelyev, was taken to hospital where he later died

However, Mr Kovalyov said doctors were sure that the highly-decorated officer - a veteran of a string of high-profile hostage situations - died of heart failure.

In a statement the FSB said: "As a result of measures taken by the security forces the terrorist was liquidated. Savelyev was wounded. He was taken to hospital but died soon after."

The incident started on Friday when a man armed with a grenade seized the Swedish commercial attaché and began holding him in his car inside the embassy compound.

The hostage-taker later agreed to exchange the Swedish official, identified as Jan-Olaf Nystrew, for Anatoly Savelyev and demanded a $3m ransom and an aircraft to fly out of Russia.

But just as the incident looked to be ending peacefully, Russian special-force police moved in and opened fire.

The identity of the hostage-taker is unknown but according to one report he is believed to be a Russian national.

A Russian news agency quoted police as saying the man appeared to be unstable and kept grabbing the pin of the grenade.

It is not clear why the attacker chose to target the Swedish embassy.

A spokesman at the embassy said the man had not demanded anything from Sweden itself.

Mr Savelyev was a veteran of Russia's elite Alpha commando force, serving in most of the country's hot spots in the last 20 years, including Afghanistan and Chechnya.

The Russian President Boris Yeltsin paid tribute to the colonel for giving his life to save another.

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