Serbs free 17 British hostages

Royal Welch Fusiliers among 108 in border handover

A total of 108 UN troops being held hostage by Bosnian Serbs, including a reported 17 Britons, were released to Serbian authorities in the border town of Mali Zvornik early today.

The British - all or nearly all Royal Welch Fusiliers - French, Spanish and Ukrainian soldiers crossed a bridge over the River Drina between Bosnia and Serbia in two buses from the Bosnian Serb-held town on the other side. After a brief halt they continued under police escort towards Novi Sad, in northern Serbia, following the same route as a first group of 121 members of the UN Protection Force freed last Friday.

Today's freeing of hostages followed a day of suspense during which Bosnian Serbs kept the world waiting for news of the release which had been promised by the Serbs. The main reason for the delay appeared to lie in a complex negotiating process of threats, bargaining and bluff between the Bosnian Serb leadership and Serbia's President. Slobodan Milosevic, who wants the hostages freed but appears to see a chance of exploiting the crisis to secure a better deal from the West on an end to sanctions on Serbia.

Some 148 peace-keepers are still in the hands of the Bosnian Serbs but the head of Serbia's state security agency, Jovica Stanisic, said the process of freeing them would continue "in the coming days."

A bus with 58 peace-keepers on board had been waiting in Zvornik to cross into Serbia for several hours before they were finally released.

Asked if the Bosnian Serbs had obtained any concession in exchange for the hostages, Mr Stanisic, who spent two days negotiating their release, said: "I cannot answer that question. Serbia's role is to help to resolve the hostage crisis."

Bosnian Serbs had been demanding a UN pledge to end air strikes against their positions but the UN said the hostages' release must be unconditional.

The peace-keepers were seized after Nato warplanes bombed Serb ammunition dumps on 25 and 26 May.

Mr Stanisic arrived at 1am across the border with a double-decker bus and a coach containing the UN peace-keepers, accompanied by scores of police cars. Curtains were drawn across the windows of the buses. He said he believed there were approximately 60 Ukrainians, 17 British, 20 French and a Spanish soldier among the freed hostages. If his figure for the Britons is correct then six remain in Bosnian Serb hands.

In London, the Russian Foreign Minister, Andrei Kozyrev, yesterday declared himself "somewhat" reassured after Britain said the West's controversial new rapid-reaction force would not stray from peace-keeping in Bosnia. Before meeting the Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, and Secretary of State for Defence, Malcolm Rifkind, Mr Kozyrev had expressed Russia's opposition to Western plans to send in reinforcements, raising fears Moscow might use its UN veto to block their deployment.

Mr Hurd assured Mr Kozyrev the peace-keeping mandate would not change but said a new UN resolution would probably be needed to "increase the ceiling" under which the troops operate. This might be necessary if the British task force in central Bosnia attempts to force a passage through to Sarajevo.

Russia and the West, page 15