Hostage’s Sister Pushes to Get Visa From Syria

The sister of an American journalist held hostage in Lebanon asked the Greek government today to help her obtain a visa from Syria in her quest to free her brother.

In Paris, meanwhile, President Francois Mitterrand and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac met with Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam in stepped-up efforts to free seven French hostages held in Lebanon.

Seventeen foreigners are held hostage in Lebanon--five Americans, seven French, and the rest Britons, Italians and South Koreans. Many of the hostages are held by the pro-Iranian extremist terror group Islamic Jihad, with which Syria has influence.

Peggy Say, sister of Terry Anderson, 38, bureau manager of the Associated Press in Beirut, told Secretary-General Kostas Georgiou of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of her desire to go to Damascus if it would help free her brother.

‘A Friendly Appeal’

“Mrs. Say asked for the government’s intervention with the Syrian Embassy in Athens to obtain a visa, and the Greek government made a friendly appeal to the Syrian ambassador,” government spokesman Antonis Kourtis said.

The Syrian ambassador forwarded the request to Damascus with the government’s plea for an approval, Kourtis said.

Say said she would decide Thursday whether to fly to Cyprus, off the coast of Syria, to wait for a visa.

“Our plans did not include a visit to Syria,” she said, explaining that she had applied for a Syrian visa in Washington some time ago and that she was now asking the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry to expedite it.