Two Russian Hostages Freed In Iraq

17 May 2004 -- Two Russians abducted by insurgents in Iraq last week were freed today in the southern outskirts of Baghdad.
Officials at the company Interenergoservis and witnesses quoted by Reuters said the two men are Andrei Meshcheryakov and Aleksandr Gordienko. They were kidnapped on 11 May in an ambush in which one of their colleagues was killed.

The two men who were employed by Interenergoservis and worked at a power plant.

It was not immediately clear whether a ransom had been paid or other demands had been met for their release.

(Reuters/AP/ITAR-TASS)