BEIRUT — Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite sent word from a secret location that he was in the second day of negotiations with kidnapers who hold American hostages, the militia that guards him reported today.
West Germany urged its citizens to leave Lebanon, where two West Germans have been kidnaped in less than a week.
"Mr. Waite is fine and he is still negotiating with the hostage-holders," said an official of Walid Jumblatt's Druze militia, which is responsible for Waite's security.
"He sent word overnight through an intermediary to assure us of his well-being. We have no reason to get worried," the militia official said.
Waite, the personal emissary of Archbishop of Canterbury Robert A. K. Runcie, has been in Beirut since Jan. 12 on his fifth mission since late 1985 on behalf of the hostages. He was driven away from the Riviera Hotel in Muslim West Beirut's Ein Mreisseh district Tuesday night to meet the kidnapers.