Pro-Iranians Threaten to Kill French Hostage in 48 Hours

BEIRUT —  A group of pro-Iranian extremists Thursday threatened to kill a French captive within 48 hours if France does not clarify its policies on French hostages in Lebanon and military aid to Iraq.

The Revolutionary Justice Organization, thought to be made up of fundamentalist Shia Muslims, made the threat in a three-page Arabic statement delivered to the office of a Western news agency in West Beirut.

The statement was accompanied by a photograph of hostage Jean-Louis Normandin, 36, a lighting engineer for the French television station Antenne-2 who was kidnaped March 8, 1986. The picture showed a bearded Normandin wearing a dark blue track suit. He appeared haggard.

No Reaction From Paris

There was no comment from the French government, which in the past has not responded publicly to demands by hostage-holders.

The kidnapers demanded that French Premier Jacques Chirac clarify a statement made Tuesday by French President Francois Mitterrand.

Mitterrand has said France will continue to supply arms to Iraq, which has been at war with neighboring Iran since September, 1980. France is Iraq’s major Western arms supplier and has delivered about $5-billion worth of weaponry to Baghdad since the beginning of the war.

Mitterrand also said Thursday that he would only consider a pardon of Anis Naccache, a convicted terrorist jailed in France, if the six Frenchmen held in Lebanon were released. Naccache is serving a life term for the attempted murder of former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar.

“It is required from Mr. Chirac, who is responsible for the commitments and the implementation of agreements, to issue a speedy clarification within 48 hours of a statement made by President Mitterrand concerning the question of hostages and continuation of military supplies to Iraq,” the Revolutionary Justice Organization’s statement said.

Will No Longer Feel Bound

“If the clarification is not issued within this period, Normandin will be committed to trial and execution because we will consider ourselves not bound by standing agreements and commitments,” it said.

“Let Mr. Chirac know that an essential change will occur on all prevailing situations after 48 hours, which will place all in front of responsibilities that might be bigger than them all,” the statement said.

The statement did not refer to two American hostages the group claims to hold. They are Joseph J. Cicippio, 56, of Valley Forge, Pa., acting comptroller at the American University of Beirut, and Edward A. Tracy, 56, formerly of Rutland, Vt., a writer.

The group also claims to have killed a British journalist, although no body has been found.