French political sources denied today that the release of French anthropologist Francoise Claustre by Chad rebels who had held her hostage for nearly three years was in any way connected with France’s release last month of Palestinian terrorist Abu Daoud. The sources were responding to a suggestion in the newspaper L’Aurore that the personal intervention of Libyan strongman Col. Muammer Qadaffi, credited with securing Mrs. Claustre’s freedom, was part of a deal.
They said Qadaffi put his personal prestige and influence on the line because of “the good France-Arab relations.” L’Aurore, which is generally pro-Israel, said today that if Qadaffi’s intervention was the price paid for Daoud it was well worth it. President Valery Giscard d’Estaing personally thanked Qadaffi. Mrs. Claustre, 33, was seized by the rebels in 1974 while on an expedition in the Sahara sponsored by the French government. Her detention was a cause celebre in France.
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