Iran to Try to Help Win Release of British Hostages in Lebanon

LONDON —  Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati today said Iran will do its best to help win the release of the British hostages in Lebanon.

Velayati also told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he has asked “friendly groups” in Lebanon to help free the British hostages and received an affirmative reply. He spoke to the BBC in Geneva, where he is participating in peace talks in the Iran-Iraq War.

In Beirut, the weekly magazine Ash Shiraa reported that Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite, one of the British hostages, is suffering from a severe stomach ailment. It said that could speed his release.

The weekly quoted unidentified “highly informed sources” as saying Waite’s health has “sharply deteriorated recently, which forced his kidnapers to call in a stomach specialist to treat him.”

“The same sources said the sudden deterioration of Waite’s health could result in speeding up his release,” Ash Shiraa said.

The magazine gained fame when it broke the story of the secret U.S. arms sales to Iran. But since then, its reports about hostages held by pro-Iranian extremists in Lebanon have not all been accurate.

Many of the 18 foreigners missing in Beirut are believed to be held by pro-Iranian extremist groups.

In addition to Waite, the British hostages are teacher Brian Keenan, 36, who also holds Irish citizenship, and journalist John McCarthy, 31.

The British Foreign Office says it also seeks word on Alec Collett, a New York-based British journalist whose Palestinian abductors claim they killed him. His body was never found.

Velayati said the hostage matter “is not in the hand of our government” but when asked if Iran would help to get the Britons out of Lebanon, he said: “We will do our best.” He also said he had been informed “unofficially and informally” of good news.