The World - News from July 18, 1986

French and American hostages in Lebanon are being held in an area controlled by Lebanese militias and not in the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley, Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam said. “I can assure you that the hostages are not in the Bekaa. They are being held in a region where there are no Syrian forces,” Khaddam told a news conference at the end of a two-day official visit to Paris. Khaddam said he did not know the exact whereabouts of the five American and seven French hostages and had no precise information on their condition.