Three Albanian soldiers were still unaccounted for Tuesday morning after they and 11 comrades walked away from NATO-sponsored training exercises at this Marine Corps base.
The soldiers began disappearing last week. One of three found at a bus station in Kinston, 40 miles north of Camp Lejeune, said they did not want to return to Albania because there was no freedom there.Three men took a cab 350 miles from Kinston to Philadelphia, where they were eventually caught at the home of one soldier's cousin. Five others were found Saturday walking along a highway.
The 11 returned soldiers have been turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Marine Corps Lt. Charles E. Campfield said. INS Special Agent Jim Martinelli said all have requested political asylum hearings.
The soldiers came from a 40-member Albanian contingent, among some 2,000 troops from 14 nations taking part in Cooperative Osprey '98, which began June 1 and ended this weekend.