G OVERNMENT soldiers released last week by the Khmer Rouge were taken prisoner

after a stolen car deal went sour, according to Khieu Kannarith, Secretary of

State at the Ministry of Information.

He said: "These soldiers weren't

captured on the battlefield, they were attempting to make business with the KR

in stolen vehicles, after the arrangements fell through the KR took them

hostage."

The International Committee for the Red Cross, handled the

release of the 14 soldiers and two Cambodian civilians and handed them over to

officials at Poipet.

A KR official in Phnom Penh, who declined to be

named, said: "We released the soldiers because our policy is to end the war."