Spanish hostages freed in Georgia

TBILISI, Georgia -- Two Spanish businessmen abducted a year ago in Georgia have been freed.

Jose Antonio Tremino and Francisco Rodriguez were released late on Saturday in the Pankisi Gorge region, near the border with Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya.

They were taken to the Georgian capital, where they spent the night at a hotel and gave a brief interview to journalists on Sunday.

Termino said, "They kept us in different places, often in a basement. They took us from place to place, and the food was bad."

Rodriquez said they did not understand the language their abductors spoke, "but sometimes one could hear Russian words."

The men, who were kidnapped on their way to the airport outside Tbilisi last November, said they did not know whether a ransom was paid.

Eduardo Aza, spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry, said that a 50 million pesetas ($270,000) ransom was paid in the summer.

Valery Khaburdzania, Georgian state security minister, told Georgian national TV on Saturday that he could not give details about the men's release.

"It was not an operation but a series of actions," he said.

Tremino and Rodriguez were expected to return to Spain on Sunday.