In South Ossetia, released hostage tells about his kidnapping

Mikhail Kulumbegov, a resident of Gvirgvina village, Znaur District of South Ossetia, who was kidnapped today by unidentified persons and released two hours later, asserts that "his kidnappers wanted to exchange him for a citizen of Georgia, allegedly kept by the South-Ossetian party."

Let us remind you that the kidnapping was committed today early in the morning. Kulumbegov told earlier that there were two kidnappers; they were armed with sub-machine guns and explosives and spoke Georgian.

Now, Mikhail Kulumbegov gives his evidences to law enforcers of South Ossetia. The hostage told journalists all the circumstances of his kidnapping.

"Today, on July 27, at 5 in the morning I was woken up by a sudden cry. I thought that it was my sick mother who needs medicines, and that she was calling me. When I opened the door of my room, strangers in military uniform put the barrel of a sub-machine gun to my head and told me not to shout," he said.

The kidnappers told him that two of them were natives of the Georgian village of Avnevi, and the third one - from the Georgian village of Nul. "They told me that they took me as hostage aiming to exchange me for their friend allegedly kidnapped by the South-Ossetian party. But after long negotiations among themselves, they let me free in the Georgian village of Takhtizi and told to get to my Gvirgvina village by myself. From there, I walked for about two kilometres to my village," Mikhail Kulumbegov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The Committee for State Security of South Ossetia regards the today's incident as another provocation of the Georgian party, which have become frequent on the eve of the next round of Geneva debates.

There are no comments of the Georgian party to this end.