US asks World Court to order hostages freed

The United States asked the World Court Thursday to order the immediate release of the 50 American hostages being held in Iran because there is no way of knowing whether Iran will keep them "for a month, a year, or a decade." Roberts B. Owen, a State Department legal adviser, said the United States still views the UN tribunal as the best hope for release of the hostages, in their 139 th day of captivity as of Friday.

In Wednesday's session before the court, the United States accused Iranian militants of playing Russian roulette with a woman prisoner and blindfolding and bullying others during "grueling interrogations."