PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Kosovo Liberation Army rebels on Wednesday released eight Yugoslav army soldiers, ending a five-day standoff that had threatened to trigger a full-scale military confrontation.

The U.S. head of the international monitoring mission announced the release outside a rebel command center in Likovac in Kosovo's central Drenica region. William Walker declined to discuss a deal brokered to ensure the release, saying only, "The agreement will contribute to a peaceful resolution to the current crisis."

The army insisted in a statement that the release was unconditional, indicating it would not free rebel prisoners in return as the KLA demanded.

But international officials and the rebels indicated the release was only possible through last-minute assurances by the mediators. That left open the possibility that KLA prisoners could be released later.

On Tuesday, the verification mission -- which oversees a cease-fire agreement for the region -- announced that the rebels would unconditionally release the soldiers.

The captured Yugoslav soldiers

Last Friday's detention of the soldiers in northern Kosovo prompted a buildup of Yugoslav army and Serbian police forces and prompted a threat from Belgrade that force would be used to free the soldiers.

The release was delayed for hours Wednesday as the negotiators held urgent talks with top rebel representatives.

Asked if the Serbs would release the detained KLA fighters in return, Jakup Krasniqu, a rebel spokesman who said he was speaking for KLA headquarters, replied simply: "They must be released."

The standoff had raised fears that a full-blown conflict might erupt again.

More than 1,000 people are said to have been killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless since Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic launched a crackdown on the KLA last February. The KLA has repeatedly stated it wants Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, to break away from Yugoslavia, but Belgrade firmly rejects that idea.

NATO hailed the release of the eight soldiers. Alliance sources said NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana broke the good news to a gathering of the 44-nation Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

NATO has repeatedly threatened to intervene in Kosovo to prevent a return to a full-blown armed conflict.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.