Azerbaijan, Baku, May 3 / Trend K.Zarbaliyeva /
Employees of the Baku office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have visited the Armenian soldiers and civilians kept in captivity in Azerbaijan.
The ICRC employees visited three Armenian POWs and five members of one family, ICRC Baku Office spokesman Ilaha Huseynova told Trend.
The ICRC employees familiarized with the detention conditions. The hostages were transferred letters from their families.
Details of the visit have not been informed.
At present, three Armenian soldiers and five civilians (family members) are in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan transferred Armenian citizen Arthur Badalian to Armenia in the Agdam region on March 17. In turn, soldier Anar Hajiyev was transferred to the Azerbaijani side.
The Armenian armed forces captured Azerbaijani army sergeant Roman Huseinov on Aug. 27, 2010 and junior sergeant Anar Hajiyev -May 10, 2009.
Previously, Azerbaijan transferred three Armenian soldiers to the third party at their request.
Working under the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC has been operating in the region since 1992 in connection with the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.