AMSTERDAM, Netherlands

The hostages -- three employees of ING Bank and one security guard -- are being held at gunpoint in the reception area of the Rembrandt Tower, police said.

In a four-page statement to Dutch state broadcaster NOS, the gunman said he was protesting against the "arrogant manipulation by the vendors of wide screen television." He complained that consumers were being misled about the quality of the product.

During the incident, which began on Monday morning, the gunman forced employees to stick anti-corporate messages on the building's windows.

"We have had to put up on all the windows, on the inside hallways for our corporations, as well as on the outside windows, the words, 'We Mislead'," Leon Stam, who works on the 16th floor of the tower, which houses 57 companies, told CNN.

Another office worker in the building told Reuters by telephone: "The atmosphere was pretty tense at the beginning, considering that it is the six month anniversary of September 11.

"But when we found out the reason behind this on the Internet, we laughed.
"Now it's getting more tense again, but we are definitely not very scared."

Local television reports indicate the man may have had a grievance with Philips Electronics, but he may have entered the wrong building. The tower once served as temporary headquarters for the Dutch electronics firm before it moved to an adjacent building.

There are about 100 police officers on the scene, and they have established communication with the hostage-taker.
"We're not really too certain as to what his actions and motivations might be, but it looks more like he's a crazy guy who's trying to state something against Philips," Stam said.

The man entered the building shortly after it opened for business at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT).

Witnesses on the scene told Reuters the man had an M-16 assault rifle and that he had a bomb. Police would not confirm whether the man had explosives.

Hans Schouten, a spokesman for Philips, confirmed that the company had been named by the gunman in talks with police.