Hamburg prison strike ends as guerrilla dies

Jailed leftists gave up a 10-week hunger strike Thursday after the death of a comrade, Sigurd Debus, in a Hamburg prison, their lawyers said. The 23 surviving strikers decided to end their fast because they were confident they would be allowed to be detained in groups, lawyers in Hamburg and West Berlin said. Mr. Debus and the other prisoners went on hunger strikes in early February to demand prisoner-of-war status and better conditions in top-security jails. All are connected with the extremist Red Army Faction, which grew out the Baader-Meinhof urban guerrilla gang.

A bomb that was discovered and defused at a US Air Force base after Debus died had aroused fears of violent retaliation over his death.