Texas Stand-Off Continues

FORT DAVIS, Texas: Two armored personnel carriers and a 15-member SWAT team have arrived at the Davis Mountains community where the standoff with the Republic of Texas faction continues. Timothy O'Rourke, a lawyer retained by "Ambassador" Richard McLaren, said that faction members are heavily armed and prepared to fight to the death if agents try to serve six warrants issued over Sunday's kidnapping of community residents Joe and Margaret Ann Rowe. McLaren was reportedly "very cooperative" in telephone negotiations with state agents and the FBI, talking about everything from the weather to political philosophy. Later, he issued a terse fax rejecting any demand for surrender. The faction is "only interested in getting the foreign agents off of Texas soil," the statement read. An estimated 13 members of McLaren's group are believed to be entrenched throughout the 6,000-acre community. Even with law enforcement officials surrounding the trailer that he says serves as the "embassy" of the Republic, McLaren has managed to update a web site with news of his situation. On it, a red-lettered notice proclaims that the "embassy" has gone on "Red 1 Alert" because of presence of "forces currently arrayed against the Embassy." The site is maintained "with covert difficulties from a remote location," reportedly San Antonio.