World Notes HOSTAGES

In the chapel of London's Lambeth Palace, Terry Waite's relatives gathered last week to observe the first anniversary of his disappearance. Although the Shi'ite Muslim Party of God is widely suspected of having kidnaped the Anglican Church official while he was on a humanitarian mission in Beirut to free two American captives, no group has ever claimed responsibility. Newspaper reports said Waite and other Western hostages were handed over to Iranian Revolutionary Guards earlier this year, but the accounts could not be verified. Waite's boss, Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev. Robert Runcie, recently confirmed that the church paid nearly $22,000 to two men who claimed that they could arrange a meeting with representatives of Waite's captors. The negotiations never came about.