News In Brief
| Beirut
Islamic terror group says it kidnapped US minister
A man claiming to represent the Islamic Holy War terrorist group said Wednesday it was responsible for the abduction of Presbyterian minister Benjamin T. Weir and two other Americans.
The man, who did not give his name, said in a telephone call to the Beirut office of the news agency Agence France Presse that the group was also responsible for the abduction of Jeremy Levin, Beirut bureau chief of Cable News Network, and William Buckley, a US Embassy political officer. Both were kidnapped in March in west Beirut.
The man said the action was taken to stress the group's desire that ''not one American will be left in Beirut.''
Callers saying they represent Islamic Jihad, a pro-Iranian group, had claimed responsibility for the Oct. 23 bombing of the US Marine headquarters building in Beirut, in which 241 US servicemen died.
