Ex-Lebanon hostage Thomas Sutherland dies

Thomas Sutherland, who was held captive in Lebanon for more than six years until he was freed and returned home to become professor emeritus at Colorado State University, has died.

Sutherland died in Fort Collins on Friday at the age of 85, according to Colorado State University, where he taught animal science until he left to become dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science at American University in Beirut.

There he was taken hostage by Islamic terrorists in 1985 and held for more than six years.

Sutherland was one of a number of Americans in Lebanon - including Associated Press bureau chief Terry Anderson - who were kidnapped by terrorist groups in the 1980s.

“I spent six years out of the seven years I was in captivity with Tommy,” Anderson said. “We were kept in the same cells and sometimes on the same chain. Whenever they moved us, generally Tommy would show up with me. He was a kind and gentle man.”