3 Soviet Diplomats Freed by Kidnapers in W. Beirut : Trio, Held for Month, Unharmed

Three Soviet Embassy personnel kidnaped in Beirut a month ago were released unharmed today in West Beirut, an embassy spokesman said.

“They’re all free and in relatively good condition,” said the spokesman, who declined to be identified. He would not give details of their release.

Four Soviets were seized at gunpoint Sept. 30 and one was killed two days later.

The three released are press attache Oleg Spirin, commercial attache Valery Mirkov and embassy physician Nikolai Sversky. The fourth, consular attache Arkady Katkov, 32, was killed by the kidnapers and his body dumped in an empty lot in Beirut.

First Nationals Abducted

The four Soviets were the first Soviet bloc nationals abducted in West Beirut since Islamic extremists began kidnaping foreigners in January, 1984. Among the foreigners kidnaped and still missing are six Americans, four Frenchmen, three Britons and one Italian.

Militia sources told the Associated Press that the Soviets were apparently released in the Sunni Basra neighborhood in West Beirut this evening. They later turned up at the heavily guarded Soviet Embassy on the Corniche Mazraa.

News of the release, broadcast by radio stations in Muslim West Beirut, triggered a wild spree of gunfire by leftist militiamen who have been combing the city for the missing Soviets for two weeks. State-run Beirut radio and the Muslim Voice of the Nation said militiamen were celebrating the release of the three Soviets.

‘Commitment to Tripoli’

In a telephone call to a Western news agency in Beirut, a man claiming to speak for the Islamic Liberation Organization said the group freed the three “so others can respect our commitment to Tripoli.”

The Muslim fundamentalist group had claimed responsibility for the kidnaping. It threatened to kill the hostages if pro-Syrian militias continued their attack on fundamentalist fighters in the northern port city of Tripoli.

The offensive was called off the day after Katkov was slain. It ended 19 days of fighting in which more than 500 people were killed.

But the hostages were not immediately freed. Callers claiming to represent the Islamic Liberation Organization called radio stations, demanding that Moscow close its Beirut embassy and work with the United States to end Lebanon’s 10 years of civil war.

Soviets Evacuated

The Soviets evacuated about two-thirds of their 150 citizens in Beirut on Oct. 4 after threats to blow up the Soviet Embassy. But no attacks were launched.

The release followed meetings in Beirut and Damascus between high-ranking Syrian officials, Lebanese militia leaders and Soviet embassy diplomats.

There had been increasing speculation that the kidnaped Soviets had been held by Palestinian guerrillas in Beirut’s beleaguered refugee camps to prevent a renewed assault by Shiite and other Syrian-backed militias. But no firm Palestinian connection has been proved.