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.
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