WORLD : Swiss Red Cross Worker Freed in Lebanon; Was Held 10 Months
DAMASCUS, Syria — Kidnapers freed a Swiss Red Cross worker in Lebanon today and handed him over to Syrian authorities, a Syrian official said.
There was no immediate word on the identity of the hostage, one of two Red Cross workers kidnaped 10 months ago in Sidon in southern Lebanon.
It was the first breakthrough in the hostage situation since April, when two American hostages were freed.
A group calling itself the Palestinian Revolutionary Squads had said in a statement released late Tuesday that it would free the two hostages within 24 hours. It was not known why only one hostage was expected in Damascus.
The statement, delivered to the independent newspaper An-Nahar and a Western news agency, came with a photograph of captive Emanuel Christen, 33. He appeared with short hair, a clipped beard and a mustache and looked straight into the camera.
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