W. Germany Trying to Restore Diplomatic Ties to Syria

West Germany indicated Friday that it is seeking to restore full diplomatic relations with Syria.

The Bonn government has had no ambassador in Damascus since November, when it was brought out in court that Syria had been involved in a West Berlin bombing.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Juergen Chrobog said Friday reports that “ we are seeking an agreement are correct. Preparations for naming a new ambassador are under way.”

But he said the Damascus government has not yet made it clear that it will follow Bonn’s lead.

In November, two Jordanian nationals were found guilty of bombing the West Berlin offices of the German-Arab Friendship Society last March. The prosecution charged that the bomb had been supplied by an intelligence officer at the Syrian Embassy.

West Germany promptly expelled five Syrian diplomats and announced that its ambassador in Damascus, who had just been reassigned, would not be replaced.

Unusual Move

Diplomatic sources said Friday that it is unusual for a Western government to seek to normalize relations with a country accused of international terrorism only three months after the disruption of those relations.

But according to officials here, Syria has shown that it is trying to help free two West German hostages in Lebanon. The West Germans, both businessmen, were abducted last month in Beirut after the arrest of a suspected Lebanese terrorist at Frankfurt airport.

The terrorist suspect, Mohammed Ali Hamadi, is believed to have been involved in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines plane bound from Athens to Rome. A U.S. Navy man was murdered during the hijacking, and the terrorists held 39 Americans on the ground in Beirut until negotiations led to their freedom 16 days after the takeover.

The U.S. Justice Department has asked West Germany to extradite Hamadi to face charges of murder and air piracy.