Armenia frees captured Azeri soldiers

Agence France Presse — English
May 7, 2005 Saturday 3:29 PM GMT

BAKU May 7 — Three soldiers captured by Armenian forces along the
ceasefire line dividing Azerbaijan and Armenian-occupied territory
in February have been freed and turned over to Azerbaijan, officials
said Saturday.

The three men were not harmed during their detention according to
Shain Sailov, an official with Azerbaijan’s committee for prisoners
of war and hostages, Lider TV reported.

He said the three were released through the mediation of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the
International Committee of the Red Cross.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
ethnic Armenian enclave Nagorno-Karabakh since they ended large-scale
hostilities with an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Armenia controls Karabakh and seven surrounding regions equal
to roughly 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized
territory.

The Red Cross often intervened to negotiate the release of soldiers
captured by enemy forces serving on the ceasefire line.

About a dozen soldiers have lost their lives from sniper fire and
mines along the ceasefire line every year but that figure has already
doubled by some estimates for 2005.