Iranian Seized to Free Waite, Magazine Says

Muslim gunmen abducted an Iranian Embassy employee to force the release of Church of England envoy Terry Waite, a pro-Syrian magazine reported today.

Al Shiraa magazine, the first to report U.S. arms sales to Iran last year, did not say which militia group abducted Mohammed Khatemi or when it happened. An editor for the magazine said the kidnaping occurred two weeks ago.

His magazine hinted that the gunmen who abducted Khatemi belonged to the Druze Progressive Socialist Party, the militia group that provided security for Waite before his Jan. 20 disappearance en route to a meeting with the captors of Western hostages. Druze officials were unavailable for comment.

Iran Denies Kidnaping

The Iranian Embassy denied the report. A spokesman who refused to be identified said: “We don’t have an employee with such a name. None of our employees had been taken hostage. This report is not true.”

The captors of Waite, the personal envoy of Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, have never been identified and have made no demands, but they are believed to be pro-Iran Muslim extremists.