ARMENIA LIBERATES AZERBAIJANI CITIZEN FROM CAPTIVITY, BAKU HANDS OVER ARMENIAN SOLDIER’S BODY
Trend News Agency
Nov 4 2010
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan transferred to Armenia the body of Manvel Saribekyan,
who earlier committed suicide, while Armenia liberated Azerbaijani
citizen Eldar Tagiyev from captivity, the Azerbaijani State Commission
for POWs, Hostages and Missing Citizens told Trend.
Tagiyev was handed over to Azerbaijan on Nov. 4 at 12:00 a.m. on the
frontline between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Ijevan-Gazakh region
with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
He was released in accordance with an agreement signed between the
Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian presidents in Astrakhan on Oct. 27.
In early October, Saribekyan was detained by the Azerbaijani armed
forces and then hung himself in a detention center using his shirt
and a sheet as a rope.
The Armenian military attempted a sabotage on Sept. 11 at about 5:00
p.m. on the northwestern front. One saboteur — Manvel Saribekyan —
was detained. Three managed to escape.
During the interrogation, Saribekyan admitted to his involvement
in an attempt to sabotage Azerbaijan upon the order of the Armenian
secret services.
Tagiyev was shot near the frontline in the Alibayli village in the
Tovuz region. He was taken hostage on Dec. 28 last year.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the United
States – are currently holding negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Armenia has failed to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions
stipulating the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding
regions.
From: A. Papazian