61.   They asked him to use his influence to free the captives.

62.   They called on Al-Faran, which had been relatively unknown before the kidnappings, to free its captives.

63.   They demanded the release of terrorists jailed in the United States and a ban on the display of crosses by Catholics in Mindanao as conditions for freeing the captives.

64.   They later freed their captives, reportedly in exchange for huge ransoms.

65.   Three captives were freed on Thursday after negotiations led by officials from a southern Russian region bordering on Chechnya.

66.   There was no word Friday whether more captives would be freed.

67.   There was still no indication of when leaders of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group might free their captives.

68.   U.N. officials initially said one French captive was freed, but later contradicted that.

69.   Under the agreement, the sickest captives would be freed first.

70.   Warlord Bakhram Sadirov freed the captives, which included three United Nations worker and two Russian journalists after the government threatened to use force.