World IN BRIEF : LEBANON : ‘New Situation’ on Hostages Is Seen

Lebanon’s most influential Shiite Muslim cleric said a “new situation” has developed over the status of Western hostages held by pro-Iranian factions. But the cleric, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, said he had no specific information about “when, how or where” any of the captives might be freed. At the United Nations, Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar issued a new appeal for word of British journalist Alec Collett on the fifth anniversary of his abduction while on assignment for the world body. He cited his “deep personal frustration” at lack of news on Collett.