World Notes Lebanon

The brave cadre of Europeans and Americans still living in West Beirut face the daily prospect of being kidnaped, knowing that at best they might spend months in isolated captivity, and at worst their bodies might be found somewhere in the bombed-out city's rubble. Last week one potential hostage managed to avoid such a fate.

David Hirst, 50, a correspondent for Britain's daily Guardian, was hauled into a black BMW by three gunmen in Muslim West Beirut when the taxi in which he was riding stopped with a flat tire. Blindfolded and with a gun at his temple, Hirst shouted and kicked to attract attention as he was driven through the city, ignoring a gunman's threats to shoot him if he did not desist. "I tried to make as much noise as I could, especially when the car stopped or slowed down at traffic jams," he recounted.

When the car stopped in a southern suburb, Hirst, who had succeeded in removing the blindfold, forced the door open and escaped. "When I ran away, they did not shoot," he marveled. Hirst, who then grabbed a taxi back to town, says he has not decided whether to stay in Beirut.