W. German Hostage Freed in Beirut, Taken to Syria

West German hostage Ralph Rudolf Schray was freed by his pro-Iranian Shia Muslim kidnapers in Beirut today and taken under Syrian army escort to Damascus, officials said.

In a statement issued in Bonn, the West German Foreign Ministry confirmed that the 30-year-old industrial engineer had been freed. Later, government spokesman Friedholm Ost told reporters, “The Syrian government has handed over Schray to the West German Embassy in Damascus.”

Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher thanked the Syrian government for its efforts. A ministry statement said Schray, freed before dawn, was in good physical condition.

Schray, a Lebanese-born West German, was kidnaped Jan. 27 in Muslim West Beirut. A Shia faction called the Holy Warriors of Freedom on Wednesday made the first claim of responsibility for his abduction.

The group, which also has claimed responsibility for the kidnapings of two other West Germans in Beirut in January, 1987, is believed to be headed by a brother of two Lebanese Shia Muslims who are being held in West Germany on terrorism and kidnaping charges.

Abdul-Hadi Hamadi is reputed to lead the Holy Warriors of Freedom, and he also heads the security apparatus of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, or Party of God.

Hamadi’s brother, Abbas Hamadi, is on trial in West Germany on charges of kidnaping West Germans Rudolf Cordes and Alfred Schmidt in January, 1987, in Beirut. Schmidt was released Sept. 7 as a good-will gesture. Cordes is still in captivity.

Those kidnapings allegedly were to pressure the Bonn government into releasing a third Hamadi brother, Mohammed, who is being held in Frankfurt on terrorism charges.