West German Hostage Released in West Beirut

According to Lebanese and West German Embassy officials, a West German hostage who had been held captive for 20 months was released in Moslem-controlled West Beirut on Monday. The man was handed over to Syrian officials, who sent him to Damascus.On Jan. 14 1987, Mohammed Ali Hammadi, was arrested in Frankfurt on charges of air piracy in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA flight from Athens to Rome. Four days later, Rudolf Cordes was abducted in West Beirut.Cordes was freed in a deserted area of Beirut. The 53-year-old West German businessman walked to a nearby home and called the police. Cordes was driven to Damascus where a private jet was waiting to fly him home.Cordes's kidnappers failed to secure the release of Hammadi but they managed to prevent his extradition to the United States. The West German government proceeded with the hijacking trial. Read full story