Rebel Tajik Group Releases 7 U.N. Hostages, 14 Others

A rebel Tajik guerrilla group Saturday freed seven United Nations military observers it had threatened to kill and 14 other hostages, diplomatic sources said.

The rebels continued to hold two members of the Tajik opposition, the sources said.

Earlier, the U.N. said the captives included two Bulgarians, a Dane, a Jordanian, a Ukrainian, a Uruguayan and an Austrian.

The rebels--members of a group led by a rebel warlord who switched to the government side this month--sought the release of several prisoners allied to their group in exchange for freeing the last two hostages, the sources said.

The other hostages were freed after a government delegation held talks with the rebels.

A U.N. source said the guerrillas Friday held up a convoy carrying a joint delegation of U.N. personnel, Tajik officials and members of the armed Islamic opposition.

The guerrillas threatened to kill the hostages and explode 30 bombs they claimed to have hidden in Dushanbe unless their demands were met by today, according to U.N. officials.

The hostage-taking came as Tajik President Emamali Rakhmonov met with the opposition in Moscow to sign a formal cease-fire agreement. The signing, however, was postponed because of disagreements between the two sides.

Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, has struggled for years against armed rebels who have bases in the country’s rugged mountains or in Afghanistan.