The World : U.S. Captive Reported Dead

A Beirut radio station reported that U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins was killed by his kidnapers this month after several weeks in captivity. The Christian-controlled Voice of Lebanon said Higgins was “killed and buried by his captors” in a southern Lebanon village that formerly was a stronghold of the fundamentalist Hezbollah (Party of God). The radio said that Higgins, 43, was killed shortly before pro-Syrian militiamen of the Shia Muslim militia Amal captured the village from Hezbollah, apparently to keep Amal from claiming credit for his liberation. Higgins was serving with the U.N. Truce Supervisory Organization when he was kidnaped Feb. 17. A U.N. spokesman, asked about the report, said, “We have no such information.”