Two French Hostages in Lebanon Reportedly Freed

Two of three French hostages held by a shadowy pro-Syrian group of Lebanese Muslims were freed Monday, turned over to Syrian officials and taken to Damascus, diplomatic sources in Beirut said early today.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told a reporter that Camille Sontag and Marcel Coudari had arrived in Damascus, but there were no further details nor any confirmation from the Syrian government.

In Paris, a French External Affairs Ministry spokesman said the office did not “have the proof regarding the liberation of the French hostages.”

The Revolutionary Justice Organization, in a telephone call to the Beirut newspaper An Nahar on Monday night, said it freed the hostages “tonight at 7:30 in Ramlet el Baida (in Muslim West Beirut) in response to pledges made by the French government. . . . We hope that France doesn’t abrogate its promises.”

A second call said the hostages would be released at the Hotel Beaurivage in Ramlet el Baida. French Embassy personnel and a host of reporters gathered at the hotel, but the deadline passed without incident.

Sontag, 85, a retired businessman, was kidnaped May 7, and Coudari, 54, a businessman, disappeared in February.

Earlier, in a written statement sent to a Western news agency in Beirut, the Revolutionary Justice Organization asked French Ambassador to Lebanon Christian Graeff, an envoy of Syrian President Hafez Assad and representatives from the Red Cross to be ready to receive the hostages at 7:30 p.m.

The group has demanded that France repay a $1-billion loan that it received from Iran in 1974, during the rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and that France stop selling weapons to Iraq for use in its war with Iran.

France and Iran reached tentative agreement Oct. 29 on repayment of the loan. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said the accord has been initialed but still must be signed.

Both countries have denied any connection between the repayment of the loan and freedom for the hostages.

The Revolutionary Justice Organization, believed to consist of Lebanese Shias allied with the Syrian regime, had claimed to hold Aurel Cornea, 54, Jean-Louis Normandin, 34, of the French Antenne 2 television network, and Coudari.

Cornea and Normandin were abducted March 8 with colleagues Philippe Rochot and Georges Hansen as they returned from a rally of the pro-Iranian extremist Shia movement called Hezbollah (Party of God) in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Rochot and Hansen were freed at the Beaurivage on June 20 as a “good-will gesture” following moves by France to improve relations with Iran.

The pro-Iranian terror group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the abduction of Frenchmen Marcel Carton, 62, Marcel Fontaine, 43, and Jean-Paul Kauffman, 43. It claims to have killed hostage Michel Seurat, 38, a researcher.

5 Americans, 2 Britons

At least five Americans, two Britons, an Italian, an Irishman and a South Korean are still held hostage in Lebanon.

The Revolutionary Justice Organization said the release of the hostages would be aimed at pushing the “French people to exert pressure on their government to meet the promises made regarding our demands, which were discussed with the Algerians and French interventions with Syrian President Hafez Assad.

Reminded of Demands

“Our new initiative is a reiteration of our good will, but we also remind France that it should not forget our demands,” the group said.

Meanwhile, Iran announced that French Premier Jacques Chirac’s conservative government is mending the mistakes France “ignorantly” made in the Middle East under Socialist leaders.

A commentary broadcast on Tehran radio said France has honored some of Iran’s conditions for improved relations with the Tehran regime.

According to the broadcast, Chirac has said his government will continue supporting Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, but the radio said Chirac also “wished for improved relations between France and Iran.”