Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 23, 1993 TAG: 9308230091
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA LENGTH: Medium
At one point, the edgy leftists shot indiscriminately for 20 minutes from within the house where they were holding the hostages, positioning underwear-clad captives in the windows.
No one was injured.
In northern Nicaragua, meanwhile, Contra rebels rejected a proposal for simultaneous release of all captives.
In all, about 70 people are held in Managua and the northern town of Qualili.
Militiamen loyal to the former Sandinista government hold the journalists and 20 officials, including Vice President Virgilio Godoy. In Qualili, the formerly U.S.-backed Contra guerrillas have detained 41 Sandinista lawmakers and other officials.
The two factions - on opposite sides of a guerrilla war in the 1980s - have become more militant over demands for land, money and other concessions promised after a peace accord was reached. The Contra forces also demand the removal of Sandinista officials from top government posts.
The hostage-taking, which began Thursday, has raised fears of a new civil war.
In Managua, a gunman who did not identify himself told pro-Sandinista Radio Ya that the journalists were seized for identifying the name of their commander in published and broadcast reports.
"The journalists are now hostages," declared the gunman, one of about 20 heavily armed men who raided the headquarters of the center-right National Opposition Union on Friday, seizing 34 hostages.
The journalists - all from Nicaraguan news outlets - had been inside the house for hours, and a group of other reporters were suddenly expelled from the front porch Sunday morning.
by CNB