World IN BRIEF : FRANCE : Kadafi Held 3 Freed Hostages, Paper Says

Three European hostages freed this week in Beirut were captured by Col. Moammar Kadafi’s government and held in Libya, not Lebanon, the Paris daily Le Figaro said. The French government said it could not confirm or deny the report. The newspaper cited unnamed sources in Paris, Brussels and Beirut as saying the government of Algeria--and not Kadafi--served as the principal mediator in negotiations to free the hostages, Frenchwoman Jacqueline Valente, 32, Belgian Fernand Houtekins, 42, and their daughter, Sophie, 2. France’s Socialist government has come under international criticism for commending Kadafi for his role in freeing the captives.