Terry Waite

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Terry Waite at April 1993 Allentown College speech

Terry Waite CBE (born May 31 1939 in Styal, Cheshire, England) is a British humanitarian and author. He is best known for his work as a hostage negotiator who was himself held hostage.  Today he is involved with a great many charities, including Emmaus (an organisation for the homeless). He was co-founder of Y.Care,  a development agency linked to the YMCA movement. Recently he helped found Hostage UK, an organisation designed to give support to hostage families.  He is also patron of the Romany Society. He currently holds the position of Visiting Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford.

Waite was the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assistant for Anglian Communion Affairs under Robert Runcie. As an envoy for the Church of England, he travelled to Lebanon to try and secure the release of four hostages including journalist John McCarthy. He arrived in the capital, Beirut, on 12 January 1987 with the intention of negotiating with the Islamic Jihad who were holding the men. On 20 January 1987 he agreed to meet with the captors of the hostages as he was promised safe conduct to visit hostages, whom he was told were ill. The group broke trust and took him hostage. He was imprisoned by them on 2 February 1987 and it was not until 17 November 1991 that he was released.

He has written three books:

Taken on Trust (ISBN 0340609699), an account of his years spent in solitary confinement
Footfalls in Memory (ISBN 0340669225), reflections from solitude. (out of print)
Travels with a Primate (ISBN 0007106335), a humorous account of his travels with the Archbishop of Canterbury

Trivia

Waite was the subject of a song by the British rock music group The Fall in 1986, entitled "Terry Waite Sez".

External links

[1987: Peace envoy imprisoned in Beirut] On This Day, BBC
[Taken Hostage] On This Day, BBC
[It's Over — Terry Waite Returns Home] On This Day, BBC
[1991: Church envoy Waite freed in Beirut] On This Day, BBC
[The Romany Society]

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