asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will detail the efforts that have been made to establish the whereabouts etc. of Brian Keenan kidnapped in the Lebanon; and the progress that has been achieved to bring about his release.
Ceisteann—Questions. Oral Answers. - Lebanon Kidnap Victim.
7.
Brian Keenan, a native of Belfast, has been missing in Beirut since 11 April 1986 when he failed to appear for classes at the American University. To date no group has claimed responsibility for his abduction.
The Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to detail all the efforts which have been made to locate Mr. Keenan. However, I can tell him that during the past seven months my Department have been repeatedly in contact with all parties in the region that might be able to provide assistance. We have been in contact with a recently released French hostage and our Charge d'Affaires in Beirut is pursuing inquiries on foot of this contact.
In addition, our embassy in Beirut has ensured that the case receives maximum publicity in the local media. Appeals from the Keenan family have been transmitted through the embassy to the local television and radio stations and a letter from Mr. Keenan's mother was published in the local newspapers. The embassy also arranged that an edited Arabic version of a BBC interview with the Keenan family be broadcast on Lebanese television last week.
I am deeply concerned by this case as, I am sure, is the Deputy and all the Irish people. His abduction is all the more inexplicable given our good relations with the Lebanon and its people and the general appreciation of our role with UNIFIL in the region. I can assure the Deputy that this matter will continue to receive my personal attention.
I would like to thank the Minister for his reply and to accept his assurances that everything possible is being done. Although no group have claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Brian Keenan, has it been possible to establish which group are responsible and what their affiliations are?
It has not. Given the situation in the Lebanon, and in Beirut in particular, the composition of these groups and their affiliations frequently change as they merge into one another so that their loyalties are to different political bosses from time to time. We have not been able to identity at all who he was abducted by. The only clue we had as to what might have happened was when the French hostage was released a short while ago and he said that where he had been he had been given an indication by another prisoner that a person had said: "I am Irish". That gave us some grounds for hope. Since then we have spurred our efforts by way of a television programme last week on Lebanese television and by way of letters from Mrs. Keenan in the Lebanese papers in the hope that this will prompt someone to come forward and help us to get him released. It is a most tragic case. The fact that Mr. Keenan who is holding an Irish passport should be abducted for no known reason, with no known demands, and held for this period of time is a frightful hardship on his family.