Journalists freed before Chechen talks

Moscow - Two Russian journalists held hostage in Chechnya were freed yesterday on the eve of talks in Moscow between President Boris Yeltsin and Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov. The kidnappers released their captives after Russian and Chechen security forces presented them with an ultimatum, said the Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Movladi Udugov. "The criminals were made to understand that they would be destroyed if they did not comply with the ultimatum, so they released the journalists," he said. - (Reuter)