Captivity: Homeward Bound

After being held hostage for 13 months by Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal's Fatah Revolutionary Council, Virginie Betille, 6, and her sister Marie-Laure, 7, were freed last week. The French girls, their mother and five members of a Belgian family had been captured while sailing off the coast of Gaza. Abu Nidal charged that the two families were Israeli spies, which they deny. The girls were delivered into French custody in Benghazi, Libya, but the others remained in captivity.

There was also good news last week for Nicholas Nicola, 23, of Britain, released from an Iranian prison, where he had served two years for alleged illegal entry into Iran and illegal possession of weapons. The release, coupled with the renewal of diplomatic relations between Iran and Britain, raised hopes that a second Briton, businessman Roger Cooper, 52, might soon be set free.