The World - News from March 3, 1988

An underground group claimed responsibility for kidnaping West German Ralph Schray in Lebanon five weeks ago and said he could be released soon. In a statement released to a Western news agency in Beirut, the Holy Warriors for Freedom said a “solution” in the case of the 30-year-old, Lebanese-born industrial engineer is possible through the mediation of Syrian President Hafez Assad. It was the first claim for Schray’s abduction, although the group had previously said it kidnaped two other West Germans in an attempt to pressure the Bonn government into releasing two Shia Muslim Lebanese brothers who are being held in West Germany on terrorist charges.