World IN BRIEF : LEBANON : Kidnapers Promise to Release Briton

Pro-Iranian kidnapers in Lebanon said they would release British hostage Jack Mann within 48 hours. Mann, 77, was kidnaped in March, 1989. The statement by the Revolutionary Justice Organization was delivered to the Beirut newspaper An Nahar along with a photograph of U.S. hostage Joseph J. Cicippio, who was seized Sept. 12, 1986. The statement praised U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who is brokering a deal to exchange up to 10 Western hostages and six Israeli servicemen missing in Lebanon for hundreds of Arab prisoners held by Israel. The kidnapers said Mann’s release is designed “to prepare for the next stage.” Last week, the group said it would not free any Western hostages until Israel frees 20 more Arab prisoners.