The World : Pope’s Kidnaping Urged
The pro-Iranian leader of Lebanon’s fundamentalist Sunni Muslims was quoted as saying that Pope John Paul II should be kidnaped if he visits Lebanon’s besieged Christians. Sheik Said Shaban also recommended that President Bush and President Francois Mitterrand of France be abducted as a means of ending support for Lebanese Christians and for Israel, the Beirut daily newspaper Ad Diyar reported. “It is our duty to abduct all those related to states that recognize Israel,” Shaban said. Although Shaban is a Sunni, he supports the radical Shiite Muslim goal of an Iran-style Islamic republic in Lebanon and has made several trips to Tehran.
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