Paper Claims France Paid to Free 2 Hostages

France won the release of two French hostages in Beirut after making political concessions to Iran and paying the kidnapers the equivalent of $2.3 million, the newspaper Liberation reported Friday.

Premier Jacques Chirac had said only state-to-state negotiations were involved in gaining the June 20 release of Philippe Rochot and Georges Hansen, two members of a four-man French television crew that was abducted in Beirut on March 8. Crew members Aurel Cornea and Jean-Louis Normandin are still missing.

However, Friday’s report in the leftist Liberation said the government negotiated with the kidnapers through two Lebanese Shia Muslim businessmen in the Ivory Coast and later through Chirac’s chief of staff, Michel Roussin.

Allegations Denied

Chirac’s office issued a statement saying Chirac “denies in the most formal manner all of the allegations about the release of the hostages published by the newspaper Liberation . . . .”

The statement added that, because the article was of a nature “to damage the permanent efforts deployed by the French government for the release of the hostages, it (the government) reserves the right to use all legal means that it judges necessary against the newspaper Liberation.”

Shortly after taking office, Chirac made a visit to the Ivory Coast for talks with President Felix Houphouet-Boigny. According to Liberation, he met also with Lebanese businessmen Nagib Zaher and Ibrahim Baroud.

The two businessmen were able to contact the kidnapers, Liberation said, and four days later the premier’s office received brief letters from the four hostages, which proved the contact was good.

$77,000 Payment Reported

For that, the government paid 5 million Lebanese pounds, or about 500,000 French francs ($77,000) at current rates, the newspaper said.

“After this initial payment, the ‘real negotiations’ started,” Liberation said. It said Roussin made several trips to Beirut and to Damascus, under a false passport, and met several times with representatives of the kidnapers.

In Beirut, Liberation said, Roussin explained that France would not change its policy of supporting Iraq in its war with Iran but that there could be “normalization” with Iran.

The French then made two gestures, expelling Iranian opposition leader Massoud Rajavi from France and inviting Iranian Deputy Premier Alireza Moayeri to France.

Two weeks later, Rochot and Hansen were released.

According to Liberation, the kidnapers’ “price” of 15 million francs ($2.3 million) was filtered through arms dealers in Paris and Spain. The money was then paid into an Arab bank in Switzerland and laundered, Liberation said.