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Agence France Presse
August 30, 2013 Friday 4:46 PM GMT
Armenia frees captured Azerbaijani soldier: Red Cross
YEREVAN, Aug 30 2013
Armenia has released a captured Azerbaijani soldier to an unnamed
third country, the International Committee of the Red Cross said
Friday.
"On 30 August, the ICRC was informed by the Armenian authorities that
the Azerbaijani prisoner of war had been released and had departed
Armenia for a third country that very day under the auspices of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," the Red Cross said in
a statement.
The soldier Firuz Farajev was detained last July after he crossed the
border between the two arch-foes, the defence ministry in Yerevan
said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a festering decades-long feud
over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.
The two sides regularly exchange fire along the volatile frontline and
each is thought to be holding prisoners of war.
Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in
a 1990s war that killed 30,000 people.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have still not signed a peace deal.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force if
negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to
retaliate against any military action.
August 30, 2013 Friday 4:46 PM GMT
Armenia frees captured Azerbaijani soldier: Red Cross
YEREVAN, Aug 30 2013
Armenia has released a captured Azerbaijani soldier to an unnamed
third country, the International Committee of the Red Cross said
Friday.
"On 30 August, the ICRC was informed by the Armenian authorities that
the Azerbaijani prisoner of war had been released and had departed
Armenia for a third country that very day under the auspices of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," the Red Cross said in
a statement.
The soldier Firuz Farajev was detained last July after he crossed the
border between the two arch-foes, the defence ministry in Yerevan
said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a festering decades-long feud
over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.
The two sides regularly exchange fire along the volatile frontline and
each is thought to be holding prisoners of war.
Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in
a 1990s war that killed 30,000 people.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have still not signed a peace deal.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force if
negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to
retaliate against any military action.