Soviet soldiers to be interned

Press, 31 May 1982, Page 9

Soviet soldiers to be interned

NZPA Berne Three Soviet prisoners have arrived in Berne, Switzerland, to begin internment after being released by. Afghan guerrillas, the Swiss Foreign Ministry has said.

The three soldiers, who landed in Zurich on a flight from Karachi, Pakistan, will be guarded by Swiss authorities for two years or until the end of hostilities in Afghanistan, whichever comes first, he said.

Further Soviet prisoners could be brought to Berne for internment, he added, but there were no concrete plans yet to do so. According to authoritative sources in Islamabad, the men were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Pakis-tan-Afghanistan border last week after being held for several months by rebels

opposing the Moscow-backed Kabul Government.

Neither the Swiss Foreign Ministry nor the Red Cross would reveal the names, ranks, or whereabouts of the three Russians, whose internment will follow a pattern set by Switzerland during World War. 11.

“They will not be held in prisons,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. “They are being held under temporary guard.”

Asked how strict security would be for the internees, he cited practices during World War ll,’ when some internees lived in empty hotels and were restricted from leaving the village in which they were assigned work.

The Red Cross arranged transfer of the Soviet soldiers through Pakistan