Keenan Tried to Win Release of 2nd Hostage : Captives: The teacher told doctors in Dublin that he sought to insist on freedom for British journalist John McCarthy.

DUBLIN, Ireland — Teacher Brian Keenan, released from captivity in Beirut on Friday, had told his captors he did not want to be released unless British journalist John McCarthy was freed also.

“He said ‘No,’ he would not go without John McCarthy. There was a big argument back and forth about it--but he had no option,” said Dr. Sean Blake, who examined Keenan on his arrival here.

The 39-year-old Irishman received a tumultuous welcome in Dublin on Saturday night. Doctors said he was suffering from malnutrition but should bounce back to health soon. But Frank H. Reed, the American freed last April in Beirut, warned Keenan that the psychological wounds of such an ordeal may not heal quickly.

Blake recounted what Keenan told him about his 52 months in captivity, mostly confined to a very small basement room:

“He was chained up some of the time. He was very hot and there were mosquitoes. He was bitten all over,” Blake told BBC Radio Ulster. He tasted no meat for four years, the physician added.

McCarthy, 33, of London-based Worldwide Television News, has been held more than four years. Keenan, on his release to Syrian authorities in Damascus, said: “I saw John McCarthy only two nights ago. He is well. John’s great sense of humor was very much appreciated.”

Keenan also reported seeing two American hostages, Terry Anderson of the Associated Press and Thomas Sutherland, an academic. Keenan said that both men were well.

Reed, who flew by Concorde from the United States to greet Keenan in Dublin, warned of the psychological aftermath that Keenan might face.