Cypriot envoy has little time to secure U.S. soldiers' release

Kyprianou boards a plane to Belgrade, Yugoslavia  ALSO The Geneva Conventions: Prisoners of war Airstrikes said to complicate efforts to release U.S. soldiers NATO strikes target Serb ground forces, complicate GI release efforts Yugoslavian borders closed, refugees' fate 'alarming' RELATED VIDEO CNN's Jim Hill, Ed Garsten and Tony Clark check in on the soldiers' hometowns, where family and friends hope for their safe return (April 7) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

April 8, 1999
Web posted at: 11:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT)

In this story: 'Safe passage' assurance Close bond between Cyprus and Yugoslavia RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- With NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia in their 16th day, the speaker of the Cypriot Parliament flew to Belgrade from Greece on Thursday, hoping to make arrangements for the release of three U.S. Army soldiers captured by Serb forces. He had only a short time to complete his mission.

Cypriot envoy Spyros Kyprianou would only have two hours to secure the release of the captured soldiers, CNN's Wolf Blitzer reported, sourcing U.S. officials.

Before leaving Athens on Thursday morning, Spyros Kyprianou was reluctant to say what the outcome would be, indicating he was less certain than he was on Wednesday that his mission would succeed.

While the United States has refused to make any concessions to gain the soldiers' release, Cypriot sources told CNN that the continuing NATO airstrikes could complicate gaining the release of the men.

Kyprianou had asked for a 24-hour NATO cease-fire while he pursued his mission. NATO would halt airstrikes for about two hours, sources told Blitzer.

'Safe passage' assurance

"What Mr. Kyprianou has asked (for) is safe passage to Belgrade and this has been given, so he is flying safely," Erato Marcoullis, the Cypriot ambassador to the United States, told CNN.

Marcoullis says Kyprianou's mission in Yugoslavia is a humanitarian one

"During his stay, it was assured that he will be safe until his return, hopefully with the three GIs," she told CNN from Washington.

Both U.S. and NATO officials had said earlier that the bombing would not be halted in order to secure the soldiers' release. But the Pentagon said Thursday that NATO had arranged that no allied bombing missions would interfere with the Cypriot lawmaker's flight to Belgrade.

Kyprianou arrived in the Greek capital Wednesday -- en route to Belgrade -- after saying the Yugoslav government was willing to turn over the three American soldiers.

His flight from Athens, which left at 3:20 p.m. (8:20 a.m. EDT/1220 GMT) on Thursday, was delayed about four hours as he awaited clearance from the Yugoslav military to fly into Belgrade.

The departure raised U.S. hopes that the three soldiers would be released. If they are freed, a U.S. military aircraft is standing by in Athens to take them to a U.S. military base in Germany.

Kyprianou was traveling to Yugoslavia on a humanitarian mission and not as a negotiator, Marcoullis said.

If necessary, the ambassador said, Kyprianou would stay overnight. It will "depend on developments," she said.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez, 24, of Los Angeles; Spc. Steven Gonzales, 21, of Huntsville, Texas; and Staff Sgt. Christopher Stone, 25, of Smiths Creek, Michigan; were captured March 31 near the border of Macedonia and Kosovo.

Macedonia is an independent country that was once part of Yugoslavia. Kosovo is a province in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia.

NATO says the soldiers were noncombat troops under its command and were on a routine border patrol. Belgrade says they were captured on Yugoslav territory.

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