Swiss Hostage Asks Government to Hand Over Shia Hijacker
A kidnaped Swiss Red Cross worker today sent a letter urging Switzerland to cooperate with his captors to “save my life.”
The Swiss government said the kidnaping and the letter are an attempt to force the release of a Shia Muslim hijacker held in Switzerland.
The government urged all Swiss people to leave Lebanon.
In Bern, Foreign Ministry official Edouard Brunner said Peter Winkler’s letter said his abduction was intended to pressure the Swiss government.
“I was not kidnaped as a Red Cross delegate but as a Swiss citizen. My government knows what my kidnapers want from it and it has to cooperate in order to save my life,” the letter said.
Swiss authorities say they have not received demands from the kidnapers and nobody has claimed responsibility for Winkler’s abduction Nov. 17.
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