The World - News from Dec. 28, 1988

Nicaragua’s Contras said they have released 104 captives held at least a year in neighboring Honduras. A Honduran official, however, said the group had been rescued from the Contras and is now under the protection of United Nations refugee officials. Foreign Ministry spokesman Eugenio Castro said the 96 men and eight women--including some soldiers from the Sandinista army--were “rescued in an action by our government, which will not permit this kind of illegal capture by armed insurgent groups inside Honduras.” But a spokesman for the U.S.-backed rebels, who have been fighting the Sandinistas since 1981, said all prisoners were turned over during the weekend to Red Cross, Roman Catholic church and human rights representatives.