ZAGREB, May 2 (Hina) - The three United States soldiers released by Belgrade early Sunday morning after a month of captivity told reporters at the Zagreb airport in the afternoon the Yugoslav authorities had complied with the Geneva
convention on the treatment of prisoners during their captivity. "(...) the (Yugoslav) guards treated us with dignity and respect and (...) in full compliance with the Geneva convention," James Stone, aged 25, told reporters before departing for a U.S. military base in Germany. Stone, Andrew Ramirez, 24, and Steven Gonzalez, 24, were captured by Yugoslav authorities in a border area between Yugoslavia and Macedonia on March 31. They were released thanks to the peace efforts of U.S. reverend Jesse Jackson. They told reporters they felt "better than (they) did", and that they were "happy, mostly happy". Stone, Ramirez, and Gonzalez also expressed the deepest
ZAGREB, May 2 (Hina) - The three United States soldiers released by
Belgrade early Sunday morning after a month of captivity told
reporters at the Zagreb airport in the afternoon the Yugoslav
authorities had complied with the Geneva convention on the
treatment of prisoners during their captivity.
"(...) the (Yugoslav) guards treated us with dignity and respect
and (...) in full compliance with the Geneva convention," James
Stone, aged 25, told reporters before departing for a U.S. military
base in Germany.
Stone, Andrew Ramirez, 24, and Steven Gonzalez, 24, were captured
by Yugoslav authorities in a border area between Yugoslavia and
Macedonia on March 31. They were released thanks to the peace
efforts of U.S. reverend Jesse Jackson.
They told reporters they felt "better than (they) did", and that
they were "happy, mostly happy".
Stone, Ramirez, and Gonzalez also expressed the deepest gratitude
to reverend Jackson for his peace negotiations for their release,
and to all who had in some way contributed to it.
The hardest time during captivity were the first days, they said.
They spent captivity separated into three small cells.
"It is sad that this is happening and we pray for peace in this
conflict," Stone said, adding he hoped the release would in some way
lead to negotiations.
Ramirez said they had lost no faith in God, and thanked the U.S.
people who had stood by them in their prayers, his family, reverend
Jackson, and all who helped in their release.
Also at the airport was U.S. Ambassador to Croatia William
Montgomery, who reminded that despite all the joy the soldiers'
release had brought, the Kosovo tragedy continued unabated.
Speaking about the soldiers, he said, "these were not combatants,
but soldiers in a peace-keeping mission in another country who were
abducted and not captured."
"We're obviously very, very happy," Montgomery said, but pointed
out the stories of more than a million Kosovo Albanian refugees and
displaced persons had no such happy ending.
"Their plague continues and that's what this crisis is all about,"
he said.
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