Swiss Red Cross Official Freed in Lebanon; 3 U.N. Soldiers Seized

A Swiss Red Cross official abducted last month by Palestinian guerrillas in southern Lebanon was freed Friday night in this port city south of Beirut--only hours after unidentified gunmen kidnaped three Irish members of a U.N. peacekeeping force in Israel’s self-declared security zone.

“I’ve never known that four weeks can be as long as that,” Peter Winkler told reporters after being driven to a Syrian command post in Rmaile, north of Sidon. “I am very happy that I am free, especially before Christmas. It is the most beautiful gift I have ever had.”

Winkler, 32, was clean-shaven and looked fit, with no sign of physical torture or maltreatment.

Asked whether he will resume his work in Lebanon, Winkler replied: “I’m afraid I will have to leave Lebanon soon. . . . My enthusiasm has suffered.”

Winkler, the chief representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Lebanon, was released at 9 p.m. in Sidon’s central square, where he was picked up by Sunni Muslim militiamen.

He was then turned over to the Swedish ambassador to Syria and Lebanon, according to police, who drove Winkler to Rmaile and then to Beirut.

Police said Winkler would be taken to Damascus, Syria, before flying home today.

‘Well Treated Throughout’

“I was well treated throughout my captivity,” said Winkler, who was wearing the same clothes he wore when he was kidnaped Nov. 17 near the Ein el Hilwa refugee camp. He also said he was held in a windowless cell and interrogated. “They told me I was held because I was a Swiss citizen, and not because of my affiliation with the Red Cross,” he added.

As for the latest kidnaping incident, Timur Goksel, spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, said gunmen abducted the three Irish soldiers from a checkpoint in the village of Tibnin in Israel’s self-declared security zone. No group immediately claimed responsibility. He said a search is under way.

The abductions came less than 48 hours after gunmen briefly detained three soldiers for questioning in the same village.