The three UN observers and their interpreter who were taken hostage in the Georgian-controlled sector of the Kodori Gorge on 5 June have been released following negotiations on 9 and 10 June between the Georgian leadership and the kidnappers. The multimillion-dollar ransom the kidnappers reportedly demanded was not paid. As on three previous occasions, the Georgian authorities agreed not to make any attempt to apprehend the kidnappers, who have been given the chance to leave the gorge. All three previous abductions (in October 1999 and June and December 2000) likewise took place in the upper, Georgian-controlled sector of the gorge. But President Eduard Shevardnadze said on 9 June in his weekly radio address that he is certain the kidnappers were not residents of Kodori but \"our enemies and those who betray us.\" (Caucasus Press)