Rebels release OSCE observers

UKRAINE

SLOVYANSK, (AP):

Pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine yesterday released the seven Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) military observers and five Ukrainian assistants who had been held for more than a week.

The insurgent leader in Slovyansk was quoted as saying he ordered the release because of increasing insecurity in the city, where fighting broke out on Friday.

The observers, members of a Europe OSCE observer team, were seized on April 25 in Slovyansk, the epicentre of eastern Ukraine's unrest. The insurgents said the team possessed unspecified suspicious material and alleged they were spying for NATO.

A team member from Sweden was also seized but was released earlier. Unlike the other observers' countries, Sweden is not a member of NATO and the Swede reportedly suffers from a mild form of diabetes.

Increasing insecurity

The insurgents' leader was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying he ordered the release because of increasing insecurity in the city. But he later told The Associated Press that "they are not being released - they are leaving us, as we promised them".

Two Ukrainian helicopters were reported shot down outside the city on Friday, killing two crew members. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said two other soldiers were killed in a clash on the city's edge.