Waite Safe, Druze Leaders Assure Church

The Church of England said Wednesday it has received “fresh assurances” from Druze leaders in Beirut that church envoy Terry Waite is safe and is continuing to negotiate for the release of Western hostages kidnaped in Lebanon.

The announcement from London appeared to set to rest fears that Waite, special envoy of Archbishop of Canterbury Robert A. K. Runcie, had been kidnaped on his latest mission to free Western hostages.

Waite was last seen in Beirut on Jan. 20 as he left for a secret meeting with members of Islamic Jihad, the Muslim guerrillas holding some of the 25 foreign hostages in Lebanon.

Fifth Visit

Waite, 47, began his fifth visit to Lebanon on Jan. 12, intending to concentrate on the cases of Terry Anderson, 39, chief Middle East correspondent of the Associated Press, and Thomas Sutherland, 55, acting dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut. Both were abducted by Shia Muslims in 1985.

Kuwait’s official news agency reported Monday that the kidnapers with whom Waite was negotiating had placed him under house arrest.

The church statement Wednesday said: “The Archbishop of Canterbury . . . has this evening received fresh assurances of the safety of Terry Waite, his personal envoy, who is negotiating for the release of persons being detained in Lebanon.

“These assurances have been conveyed to the Church of England from leaders of the Druze community who are Mr. Waite’s hosts during his mission to Lebanon.

“These leaders held conversations with leaders of the Shia community, and they have now informed the archbishop’s office in London that Mr. Waite is safe, is continuing his discussions and will return on the completion of his mission,” the statement said.

British Bases on Alert

On the island of Cyprus, 125 miles west of Beirut, British military bases were placed on alert while increased numbers of planes and U.S. helicopters have been seen, the Cyprus Mail newspaper said. British and U.S. diplomats said the activity was not related to any possible military attack inside Lebanon, but was part of air and naval exercises.

Meanwhile, in Bonn, the West German government said it has received word that two West German citizens held by kidnapers in Lebanon are alive and in good health, government sources said.

The kidnapers, who are seeking the release of Lebanese terrorist suspect Mohammed Ali Hamadi, sent photographs of the two abducted businessmen, Rudolf Cordes, 53, and Alfred Schmidt, 47, via an Arab-born middleman, the sources said. The United States is trying to extradite Hamadi, arrested at Frankfurt airport Jan. 13, on charges of murder and air piracy in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner to Beirut.

Explosives Found

West German police unearthed more than five gallons of explosive liquid hidden in a field outside Beckingen near the home of Hamadi’s brother Abbas Ali Hamadi, 30, a naturalized West German citizen who was arrested Monday, security sources said. They declined to discuss what the discovery meant.

Police are holding Abbas Hamadi on suspicion of “placing the state in duress” by unspecified involvement in the abductions of the two West Germans, the security sources said. His arrest after his arrival at Frankfurt airport from Beirut led to the discovery of the cache of explosive liquid, the sources said. Some media reports said Abbas Hamadi himself had told police where to find it. His brother was arrested when he was caught carrying three bottles of the same explosive, disguised as wine.

In West Beirut, about 1,000 college students and officials marched through the streets to protest the latest outbreak of kidnapings, in which several university teachers and officials have been seized.

The procession was led by a car with a black coffin on the roof carrying the slogan: “This is what is left to us. We announce the death of education in Lebanon.”

Among the marchers was the Lebanese wife of Robert Polhill, one of three Americans kidnaped from Beirut University College on Saturday along with an Indian-born American resident.

A group calling itself “Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine” claimed responsibility for kidnaping “four Americans who were carrying out American conspiracies under the cover of teaching at Beirut University College” in a statement delivered Wednesday to a news agency, along with a photograph of Polhill.

Also Wednesday, an American teacher and two Lebanese with U.S. passports were escorted from West Beirut to the U.S. Embassy in Christian East Beirut to keep them safe from kidnapers, police said.