Hostage drama at Texas synagogue

All four people taken hostage in a more than 10-hour standoff at a Texas synagogue have been freed unharmed, police said late Saturday, and their suspected captor is dead.

The siege in the small Texas town of Colleyville -- in which the suspect was apparently demanding the release of a convicted terrorist -- had sparked an outpouring of concern from Jewish organizations in the United States and the Israeli government.

Colleyville police chief Michael Miller told a news conference a "rescue team breached the synagogue" on Saturday evening and rescued three remaining hostages -- all adults -- being held inside. A first hostage had been released unharmed a few hours earlier.

"The suspect is deceased," Miller told reporters.

FBI Dallas Special Agent Matt DeSarno said the four hostages did not need medical attention.

There were reports from journalists at the scene of a loud explosion and gunshots at the synagogue shortly before the press conference. That was more than 10 hours after police were alerted to the emergency at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, about 40 kilometers west of Dallas.

Quoting a US official briefed on the matter, ABC reported the man was demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui -- a Pakistani scientist who in 2010 was sentenced by a New York court to 86 years in prison for the attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan. She is currently being held at a prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

ABC initially said the man claimed to be Siddiqui's brother, but later clarified her brother is in Houston -- while experts said the word the man used in Arabic was more figurative and meant "sister" in the Islamic faith.

Siddiqui's lawyer said she "has absolutely no involvement" in the hostage situation in a statement to CNN. The lawyer confirmed that the man was not Siddiqui's brother and said she condemned his actions.