Reporters, Aid Workers, Others Freed in Prisoner Swap in Bosnia

Two Turkish journalists and three foreign aid workers were freed by their Bosnian Serb captors in a prisoner exchange in Sarajevo on Saturday, witnesses said.

The exchange also involved six Bosnians held by the Serbs and 10 Serbs who were prisoners of the government, International Committee of the Red Cross officials said.

“I’m good, I’m OK, but I’m tired,” said Munira Acim of Turkey’s Hurriyet daily as she hugged relatives after stepping out of a U.N. armored personnel carrier.

She and Alija Kocak of Ankara’s Anatolian news agency were taken Oct. 7 at a Serbian checkpoint in a suburb of the capital. Originally the Serbs had demanded the return of two Serb journalists seized by Muslim-led government troops last month in exchange for the Turks.

Earlier this week, U.N. officials reported that the Serbs had been killed. Their bodies were due to be returned to Serb authorities as part of the exchange, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times of London reported that two French pilots shot down over Bosnia and reported kidnaped are being held by forces loyal to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Early editions of the newspaper available late Saturday quoted sources close to the Yugoslav army as saying the Frenchmen, who were shot down Aug. 30 during NATO air raids, have been taken to the Belgrade area.

There is speculation that they are in a military hospital in a restricted part of the city, the newspaper said.

The report could not be independently confirmed.