BBC Online :
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have released the four remaining European monitors they were holding.
The Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe observers were detained last month. Another OSCE team was released earlier this week.
The move comes amid a shaky ceasefire between government forces and rebels.
President Petro Poroshenko extended the week-long truce on Friday for three days, but fresh clashes have put it under increasing strain.
In all, two observer teams – a total of eight international monitors – were detained by gunmen in eastern Ukraine last month.
Four monitors – kidnapped in the Donetsk region on 26 May – were freed in the early hours on Friday.
Negotiations for the release of the other group, who were taken on 29 May in Luhansk, had intensified in recent days.
Footage on a Russian TV news channel showed the three men and a woman shaking hands with OSCE representatives and entering a hotel in Donetsk city.
In a statement, OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter said he was relieved to hear of the group’s release and said the OSCE was ready to help implement President Poroshenko’s peace plan.
OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said: “They’re in good health, they’re in good spirits.”
The release of all observers had been a key demand made by the EU in its policy statement on Ukraine on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had publicly called for the release of all hostages under the terms of the temporary ceasefire.
He had also called for a long-term truce to allow for further negotiations, urging Mr Poroshenko to embark on a “path of peace”.
The ceasefire came under increasing strain on Saturday amid reports of fresh clashes between government forces and rebels in the east.
