Last 3 Captive U.N. Workers Released in Abkhazia

After negotiations with Georgian officials, kidnappers on Friday released the last three of seven U.N. workers taken hostage in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region, a government spokeswoman said.

Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze said the three were freed after officials guaranteed the abductors that special forces would not be sent to capture them. Defense Minister David Tevzadze and presidential envoy Iveri Chelidze were involved in the negotiations.

The six U.N. observers and a translator were captured Wednesday while delivering aid to the Kodor Gorge area. The captors demanded a ransom of at least $200,000 but freed four hostages--observers from the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and Uruguay--without conditions Thursday.

The kidnappers, however, raised the ransom demand for the remaining hostages to $300,000.

Those freed Friday were observers from Greece and Sweden and their Abkhazian translator.

“I can confirm they have been released. As far as I know, all three hostages are feeling OK and are in good health,” said Vessellin Kostov, a U.N. official in Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s capital. “We expect them back in Sukhumi in the course of the day.”

The official indicated that no ransom had been paid, saying that the hostages had been freed “in accordance with U.N. official policy.” U.N. policy forbids ransom payments, but each situation depends upon the context.

The U.N. workers were part of a 100-strong contingent monitoring a cease-fire between the Georgian government and Abkhazian forces after their 1992-93 war.