Freed Hostage Terry Anderson Resigns From Job as Journalist

Terry A. Anderson, the American journalist held hostage for nearly seven years by Muslim extremists, said Friday that he was resigning from the Associated Press.

Anderson, who was freed last Dec. 4 after being held captive in Lebanon, told newspaper executives at a meeting of the New England Newspaper Assn. that he was tired of being a reporter, according to people at the meeting in Mystic, Conn.

“He said essentially that he’s not going to be a reporter anymore and certainly not a correspondent anymore,” said Bill Thorndyke, editor of the Mystic River Press.

Associated Press spokeswoman Wendell Wood Collins confirmed that Anderson had resigned.

Louis D. Boccardi, president of the news service, said in a statement that Anderson was “a model of courage and strength that will always be treasured.”

Anderson, the former chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, also said that he endorsed Democratic nominee Bill Clinton for President because the Arkansas governor has “fresh ideas,” according to Thorndyke.

“He said he supported Clinton and that he thought Clinton would make a good President,” Thorndyke said.

Anderson also did not rule out running for political office himself.

“He said a political career is certainly an option,” Thorndyke said. “He said he’s thinking toward something that would be a more direct way to help people.”

Anderson is writing a book about his Lebanon ordeal as part of a yearlong fellowship at Columbia University’s Media Studies Center.