UN efforts start to free kidnapped Israeli soldiers
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The United Nations has started work   to try to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped   by Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah in July, a senior U.N.   official said on Sunday.
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Afghan militants holding three UN workers hostage began talks with the government and the United Nations on Sunday and the kidnappers have dropped some of their demands, a militant spokesman said.
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The United Nations again appealed for the safe return of three of its workers held hostage in Afghanistan on Thursday, three weeks after they were snatched from their car on a busy street in central Kabul.
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Israel is prepared to discuss freeing   Lebanese prisoners for two soldiers held hostage by Hizbollah   if the two are handed over to the Lebanese government, a senior   Israeli political source said on Thursday.
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An Israeli soldier captured a year ago was apparently heard asking for medical treatment and urging Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, in an audio tape played on Israeli television on Monday.
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The Afghan government announced Tuesday that contact had been made with the three United Nations election officials kidnapped nearly two weeks ago and expressed hope that they would be released soon.
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KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - US and Afghan forces have apparently freed three UN workers who were kidnapped in Kabul on Oct. 28. On Monday, US and Afghan forces raided a house in Kabul, in what appears to have been part of an operation to free the hostages.
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Â·  Palestinian gunmen planned to snatch soldierÂ·  One shot dead after attack on unmanned watchtower
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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi   Annan said on Monday Lebanon and Israel have accepted his offer   to mediate the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by   Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah in July.
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Two kidnapped Italian military personnel were rescued in a NATO-led combat operation early Monday in western Afghanistan, two days after they went missing, an official said. Early reports indicated that at least five of the kidnappers had been killed.
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JERUSALEM - Israel and the Palestinian Authority were engaged in intensive efforts Tuesday morning to secure the release of an Israeli Druze employee of CNN who was kidnapped by masked men in Gaza City.
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The UN has issued an appeal for the immediate return of its three staff members, which included a woman from Northern Ireland, kidnapped in Kabul last week.
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Men in military uniforms held up a United Nations vehicle in Kabul yesterday and abducted three election workers at gunpoint. It was the first kidnapping of UN or aid workers
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One week after the abduction of three foreign election workers in Afghanistan, Afghan and United Nations officials are hoping for a breakthrough in negotiations with the kidnappers.
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The United Nations has yet to contact   Hizbollah over the release of two Israeli soldiers, Hizbollah's   deputy chief said on Tuesday, almost a month after the end of   the war triggered by their seizure.
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The United Nations again appealed for the  safe return of three of its workers held hostage in Afghanistan  on Thursday, three weeks after they were snatched from their  car on a busy street in central Kabul.
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Militants gave Israel 24 hours starting Monday to begin releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, implying they would kill an abducted Israeli soldier if their demands were not met.