They treated us very badly, in inhuman, unbearable conditions. Even animals shouldn't be treated that way

Antonio Tremino

The pair told reporters they had been treated very badly, deprived of food, and tied to each other by the neck.

The Spaniards, 41-year-old Jose Antonio Tremino and his business partner Francisco Rodriguez, 49, were released at the weekend in a special police operation in the Pankisi Gorge near Georgia's border with Chechnya.

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They looked pale and malnourished, describing their ordeal as harrowing.

Antonio Tremino said he feared death

The pair were kidnapped by four armed men on 30 November last year as they were travelling to the airport in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

"They treated us very badly, in inhuman, unbearable conditions. Even animals shouldn't be treated that way," Mr Termino said.

He said he and Mr Rodriguez, who had been working for a joint Georgian-Spanish venture, were moved 16 times while in captivity and that every time they feared they would be killed.

He added that the kidnappers wore balaclavas all the time.

Spanish media have reported that the men's relatives may have paid more than $500,000 to secure their release.

In recent months kidnapping has become common in Georgia, an impoverished former Soviet Republic.

Many blame Chechen rebels who use the ransoms they demand to fund their fight for freedom against Russia.

The Spanish businessmen are to return to Spain on Tuesday on a specially chartered plane.

They say they have no plans to return to Georgia.

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