25 August 2008, 13:49
Georgia and South Ossetia exchange captives
In the evening on August 24, in Karaleti village, 5 km off to the north of Gori, Georgian and South-Ossetian parties exchanged their prisoners of war, as reported by the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia.
Deputy Defence Minister of Georgia Batu Kuteliya stated earlier that 12 Georgian captives were still kept by Russian troops.
"With mediation of Thomas Hammarberg, EU's Human Rights Commissioner, the South-Ossetian party has handed over to the Georgian counterpart 5 civilian captives and two Georgian soldiers captured during the warfare in Khetagurovo village," the source has specified.
In exchange, the Georgian returned 5 civilian persons, the ITAR-TASS reports.