Lebanon Group Releases Photo of Victim’s Body

BEIRUT — A pro-Iranian group today issued a photograph showing the body of a man it identified as one of eight kidnaped Frenchmen whose release was being sought by French envoys in Lebanon and Syria.

The Islamic Jihad organization said the picture was of sociologist Michel Seurat, 38, whom it claimed to have “executed” last Wednesday for being a spy. It said it was releasing the photograph because of “skepticism” about its claims that Seurat was dead.

The black-and-white photograph showed what appeared to be Seurat lying bare-chested on the ground with his eyes partially open. There were no signs of wounds or other injuries.

2 Other Pictures

A second picture showed what the group said was Seurat wrapped in a blanket and a third showing what it said was a closed coffin containing the body. The coffin was marked with a cross.

A statement attached to the photographs said Islamic Jihad is now holding only three Frenchmen. The group denied that it was responsible for the kidnaping of a four-man French television crew in West Beirut on Saturday.

“We reaffirm that (the three hostages’) lives depend on the speed of the French government in meeting our demands, of which it knows every detail,” the statement in Arabic said.

“We are sorry to announce to French public opinion that we have no knowledge and are not responsible for the latest kidnaping of four French journalists. The communiques issued in our name after the kidnap are false.”

Denied Entry to Iran

French officials were at work today in three Middle Eastern capitals trying to secure the release of the journalists but were denied diplomatic entry to a fourth country, Iran, which might hold the key to winning their freedom.

Foreign Ministry official Michel Servant met with President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, where he delivered a letter from French President Francois Mitterrand. The letter’s contents were not released.

Another Foreign Ministry official, Serge Boisdevaix, met Lebanese government officials in Christian East Beirut and then crossed into the Muslim western half of the Lebanese capital for talks with House Speaker Hussein Husseini.

Other diplomatic efforts were under way in Bagdad, the capital of Iraq.