Terry Waite, a Briton who was held hostage in Lebanon for nearly five years, yesterday returned to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time since his release more than 12 years ago.
Waite was trying to negotiate the release of Western hostages in his capacity as a special envoy ofthe Archbishop of Canterbury in January 1987 when he became one of dozens of foreigners kidnapped by pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite Muslim militant groups.
He returned to Beirut on behalf of Y Care International, the YMCA's development agency which he helped found 20 years ago.
He described his visit as a fact-finding trip to see what was being done and to bring a little support to the people who were doing the work.
Waite said he held no grudges against his former captors.
