The World - News from Jan. 24, 1989

Iraq repatriated 131 disabled and ailing Iranian prisoners of war in a “humanitarian gesture,” the first POWs from the Iran-Iraq War to be freed in nearly two months. Iran offered no immediate sign that it will reciprocate and resume prisoner exchanges, but Iraq said it will free another 124 Iranians today. International Red Cross officials supervised the return of the prisoners to Tehran in an airliner chartered by the Geneva-based agency. The operation took place as U.N. mediator Jan Eliasson was due to arrive in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders aimed at breaking a deadlock in efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the eight-year-long conflict.