German freed in Lebanon

Press, 16 May 1989, Page 11

German freed in Lebanon

NZPA-Reuter Beirut Kidnappers have freed a West German hostage in south Lebanon but the fate of an elderly Briton, apparently abducted three days ago, remained uncertain. Eight weeks of fighting between Christian Army troops and Syrian forces and their Muslim allies dwindled away after an Arab League-sponsored ceasefire, giving civilians the opportunity to enjoy Beirut’s spring for the first time since March 14.

The artillery battles that started in March were sparked by a sea blockade imposed by the navy of the army commander, Major-General Michel Aoun, on proSyrian Muslim militia

ports, south of Beirut. Witnesses said a kidnapped relief worker, Marcus Quint, haggard and clean-shaven, arrived yesterday with a Shi’ite Muslim Amal militia chief, Nabih Berri, at the West German Asme Humanitas Relief Agency headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Zahrani. Berri, whose men control south Lebanon, where Mr Quint was believed to be held, said he did not pay any ransom money but that Mr Quint’s release was achieved through contacts.

“Quint is released and I did not meet the kidnappers,” Berri told reporters. He refused to elaborate.

In Muslim west Beirut police and Syrian troops launched a search operation for a Briton, Jack Mann, aged 74, a retired airline pilot living in Beirut.

A senior Syrian Army officer said his troops were contacting all militias in Beirut but so far without result. Mr Mann, one of 17 Westerners missing and believed kidnapped in Lebanon by pro-Iranian militants, vanished on Friday when the ceasefire halted the battles that had killed more than 350 people. Thousands of Beirutis travelled to the mountains, others basked on beaches.

“It is the first time since March that we ven-

ture outside our house with no fear that battles might erupt again,” a Beiruti woman said. “We have a feeling, and we are more confident, that the situation could become better,” she said. An Arab peace envoy, Lakhdar Ibrahimi, who held three days of talks with Muslim and Christian Lebanese leaders as well as Syrian officials, said on his arrival in Kuwait that all Lebanese parties had made it clear they accepted the ceasefire. He said there were no problems concerning the views of the parties over when and where the observer force would deploy to monitor the ceasefire.