Prisoner swap in Africa may free 3 Americans

Two Soviet airmen held by Angolan rebels were handed over to the South African Red Cross in southern Angola as part of a planned three-way exchange of prisoners that was scheduled to take place in Namibia Monday.

The two airmen, captured by the Angolan antigovernment group UNITA after their cargo plane was shot down two years ago, were to be exchanged in Lusaka, Zambia, for two Americans, who were said to be mercenaries, and a US civilian pilot held by Angola.