Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 ee “HIGGINS, From Al . “ane: Statement $.t0 Atey” _their we _ pas “nonsense.” _falled captor effor ‘Victims “grotesque ‘and ‘a “perver- - Bion of civilized and ,vniversal con- : epts’of justice.” Denotincing. what it called the “cynical attempt” to exploit the plight of Higgins during +) Christmas n, the State De- * ‘Vpartment called, for his immediate ‘Land unconditional release. {Administration sources said US, 1 officials have been unable to deter- 1 mine the validity of the announce- ment or any of the previous claims _by : Higgins’:captors, Washington Post staff writer Molly Moore re- | ported. “There is a great feeling of helplessness,” said one administra- tion official. ek Higgins, 43, of Danville, Ky., was head of a,76-man observer group attached to the U.N. peace-keeping force in southern Lebanon when he was kidnaped near the southern port'city of Tyre on Feb. 17. The new picture of Higgins, the second in 10 months, resembled a ‘photograph released by the kidnap- hoto showed ers April 21. That, p the balding’ Higgins: stoop-shoul- dered with his eyes cast down, not looking at:the camera.. He had gray. stubble or his cheeks and was wear- ing a‘dark field jacket. The statement accompanying the “Threat Linked tol S "i fitinapers holding U.S." Col, William R.: Higgins ‘said ‘today ‘nat of the oppresse a. By Farouk Nassar 14. Fert CPR Terie rete RR BFIRUT.-. Dec. _12-—Lebanese picture Sat tregret put Higgins on trial:before “a da” on spying charges. .. The Organizat pressed on Earth, b jon of the Op- elieved made up - of Shiite Moslems loyal to Iran, had ’ charged that Higgins used his U.N- for espionage... ...., uniform as a cover In today’s statement, the group’ said, “It has been proven by clear- cut evidence that [Higgins] and his American team of guilty of providing the Zionist en- emy with accurate and detailed mil- itary and security information about our resistance fighters, their posi- tions, movements, — supply . routes and the quantity and quality of their weaponry.” acre “The spy has been turned over to those responsible for executing this just and revolutionary verdict,” statement said. No specific execu- tion date was mentioned. There have been three othe communications from the _ group since Higgins: abduction—twa statements listing demands for his release and.a videotape in, Higgins repeated, the demand _. The demands focused on the re lease of Palestinian and Lebanest prisoners held by Israel!‘an proxy militia, th Army. Israel rejected thé demand On Saturday, the secretary ge eral of the United Nations, Javi¢ oP. ~ 9 “Higgins ea ak UE My See igh gets ‘Lethal Israeli _[ statement. Hostage 0 ‘anon usually insert’a picture with - observers. are 4 the] whicll - e South Lebanoh :‘figtaternent to prove its authenticity. . Tn its statement, the group said > pithe decision’ to kill Higgins was Ifretaliation#.“for?.Israeli attacks +. Tye WASHINGTON POST CPYRGHT tribu- WILLIAM RICHARD HIGGINS" . «« “revenge for blood of martyrs” ‘Perez de Cuéllar, made a special appeal for Higgins’ release when he accepted:the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on: behalf of, the 10,000,U.N. peace-keeping forces... | Tonight, a U.N. spokeswoman said, “the secretary general urgently | calls on those holding Col.” Higgins not to carry out their threat but to ~ release him immediately . and une. harmed. The secretary general also urges all those who may be in a pO». sition to help to do all that they ¢: ve «to assist in securing the release.” i : +. Rifteen foreigners are missing ~ ome presumed. kidnaped in Le anon... They are nine’ ‘Anjericans, three ~ Britons, one Irishman, one Italian and a‘Swiss, The longest held is ‘American. Terry. Anderson, 40, ‘of "The Associated Press; wlio was kids: d March 16,1985. i : CPYRGHT r a NG a a > they had decided to “execute” their |] against “our people in;occupied Pal- hostage because they believe he is a estine”—-the West, Bank. and Gaza spy forIsrael. Strip—arid predominantly - - Shiite southern Lebanon.” =", It also said Higgins would die in “revenge for the blood of the mar- . tyrs of the latest Israeli raid” on a Palestinian guerrilla base nine miles| - south of Beirut. Nine guerrillas -were killed Friday in the Israeli at- tack. An Israeli officer also died. _ {in Washington, the State De * partment issued a statement saying sthe charge that Higgins was-a Sp * Gee HIGGINS, A36, Col. 1 ed “We have issued the irrevocable sentence to execute this American spy,” said a typewritten Arabic statement signed by the. Organiza; tion of the Oppressed on Earth and ; delivered to the independent Beirut - newspaper An Nahar. woo 4 _ A photocopy of a picture purport- “ing to show Higgins,-the most re- |} cent kidnap victim. of ‘nine ‘Ameri- cans held hostage in.Lebanon, “was printed-at the bottom of theL6-line ; Rov Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
z > 2 5 aD c ‘oo q ° a a z m nd beauti a | INTERVIEW | “The World Is sh and Brigh d Beautiful” After By DAVID AIKMAN NEW YORK [ Pwnhe Cy C O Talk » ¥¥d he going to wear the Islamic Jihad hat and talk to Tom [Sutherland] and me? Or was he going to wear the Islamic Dawn hat and talk to Frank Reed? Q. Did you ever meet the person who seemed to be in charge of all the hostages? A. Yes. There was a gentleman called the Haj who was the chief of our particular faction, and I guess one of the senior members of Hizballah. He was ac- tually a very pleasant man. He was a rather stocky man. I never saw his face, of course, was not allowed to, but my biggest impression is of his hands. He has big, thick hands, and he’s paunchy. He would come in, and he’d take my hand, and he'd say, “/ssalamu alaykum [Peace be with you].” I’d say, “Wa alaykum essalam, Haj.” He’d say, “Keef haiak [How are you}?” He was unquestionably in control. I mean, they jumped when he came. He almost always spoke soft- recuperating in d YOu ever KNOW k ly, and he almost always seemed reasonable. [He was Antigua were? not vicious to us, as some of the guards were, partic- ’ A. We had our guesses. They would always deny be-J> ularly when he wasn’t there. Terry Anderson | ing connected with the Hizballah [Party of God], but talks about his I don’t think it’s surprising that kidnappers should Q. /fhe came into the room now, what vould you say lic. We believed Hizballah was the umbrella organi-J him? chief captor zation, although it's not a unitary group but an as-f}) A. Ooh, that’s much, much too difficult. | have no (surprisingly semblage of factions or family-connected groups.f reason to like the man. He was responsible for hav- pleasant) and All had different names. 7 ing me kidnapped and tor chaining me toa wall. I y It was very strange. There were Brian Kcenan,J| don’t want to see him ever again, and I have no idea the West’s John McCarthy. Frank Reed, Tom Sutherland and 1,}/ what I would say to him. mistrust of all in the Bekda Valley in one underground secret Isl prison, all of us being held under different names.§ Q. You were with Terry Maite fora long me. What slam We would laugh about it, wondering which hat they [L_was he like as a fellow prisoner? TIME. MAY 18, 1992 CPYRGHT 57 Approved For Rete RGSddorosios : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
“You can’t lock five menina room for 24 hours a day fighting about something. Sometimes tt would be something as off miviect, or ‘i Gon i bridge... 0 Approved For Refeasey2000/08/08 sstiAARDPOE:)OFSSRO personality. There were disagreements’ in the room. I have nothing bad to say about Mr. Waite. I think he’s a very, very courageous man, and I ad- mire what he tried to do. About half the year we were together, he had extreme asthma, to the point where I thought he was going to die on us. He would hyperventilate himself to unconsciousness. It’s very difficult to live ina small room with a man who has got asthma, because you don't get any sleep. He’s gasping all night long and having crises and attacks. Q. What were the disagreements about? A. You can’t Jock five men in a room for 24 hours a day without fighting about something. Sometimes it would be something as small as ‘Stay off my cot, or my mattress,” or “I don’t like the way you play bridge,” or something like that. Q. You were moved to different locations about 20 times. How did they move you? A. Usually in the trunk of a car or quite often in a se- cret compartment built under the bed of the truck and bolted in. They would come in, and they'd take this wide plastic tape, shipping tape, and they’d tape you up. Then they would wrap a towel around your head this way and over your eyes: You were just like amummy. Q. How could you breathe? A. They left your nose out. A couple of times I had fights with them. I had to struggle and buck and go “Mmmmm!” because I had a cold. I had to make them understand that they couldn’t completely cov- er my mouth, because J couldn’t breathe. You’d get exhaust fumes underneath the truck. I was deathly afraid during one move that I was going to vomit—I was very sick, and of course my mouth was taped up—and that I would choke to death on my vomit. When we went to South Lebanon, it was four or five hours underneath that thing. Once they dressed me in a chador (the head-to- toe veil of strictly religious Muslim women] and put those little round spot Band-Aids on my eyes, and then they put the sunglasses on. Well, the Band- Aids came loose, and with the prescription sun- glasses on, I could see perfectly well. So I was sitting in the back of the car with a guard sitting next to me, just kind of peering around. Q. What do you think about the [ran-contra affair? A. It was a bad mistake. Those kinds of bargains are not the way to deal with kidnappers. They only encourage more kidnapping. I think it made it very difficult for Reagan to convince the kidnappers that he was still a virgin, that he wasn’t going to bargain with them, because he had already done it once. Q. During your years as a captive, you were constant- ly exposed to the beliefs of your kidnappers about themselves and the rest of the world. What were they saying? A. They were radicals within the fundamentalist movement. The way they interpret their religion al- lows them to do things or to justify to themselves doing things that any normal reading of the Koran - would find insane or evil. I've read the Koran; I’m » QO -On- TIME, MAY 18, [992 0046004.0004 fry plain, and they're not all that different from Christianity at base. They are paranoid in the way they look at the world. They see America as the Great Satan that does everything wrong, and yet it is all-powerful, and therefore all American acts must be deliberate; they can’t be the result of accident or misunder- standing, or simply stupid policy. Q. Do you think Westerners understand this mentality? A. No, not at all. Even many of the hostages after some years of it could not understand it, could not grasp it. We need to understand these people, we've got to understand their motives, how their minds work. Q. What did they allow you to read in captivity? A. At various times we did have a lot of books. The book I got first was the Bible, and I kept that almost throughout my captivity, though not the same copy. [read that over and over and over and over and over again and thought about it. That book was by far the most important to me and remains the most impor- tant to me. —__ _. We got westerns, we got science fiction, we got good books, we got Some excellent hooks.on political theory, college textbook stuff in paperback that was very interesting. Then when we moved to the Bekaa Valley, the books ended for some reason. They got us Time and Newsweek and the Economist and, for somé reason, Fortune and~Business Week fairly regularly. , Q. Did your philosophical outlook change while you were a captive? A. I was brought up a Catholic. J left the church and was an apostate for most of my life. I called myself an agnostic, which simply means I was too lazy to figure it out. I returned to the church, luckily enough, about six months before I was kidnapped. I believed in God, I believed in Jesus Christ, I believed in the things the Catholic Church believed in. Well, not all of them. I’m not sure the Pope would like me too much, but J am a Catholic, whether he likes it or not. And thinking seriously about my religion was providential, I guess, because I needed it very badly when I was kidnapped. Q. After being away from the U.S. so tong, what has struck you on your return? A. | think it’s a better world, in general. Despite the events of the past few days, I think America is also making progress. I think it is a better place than when I left. I had worked through in my head a lot about my life before I was kidnapped that | didn’t like. I thought of myself as not a good person. And pray- er, and I think God’s touch, brought me back out of that, gave me a different way of looking at things. Q. Do you have any bitterness toward ihe people who held you for so long? A. { don’t have any time for it. I don’t have any need for it. It is required of me as a Christian to put_that aside, to forgive them. I pray for them. I wish them no ill in their lives. My life is very, very busy--it is full of joy. The world is fresh and bright and beautiful. | Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 CPYRGHT A42 Fripay, Marci 16, 1990 Moslem Group Threatens _ To Kill Three Hostages BEIRUT—A Moslem faction holding three American professors hostage threat- ened yesterday to kill them if the United States fails to meet its demands, which it did not specify. The group, the Islamic Jihad for the Lib- eration of Palestine, also threatened to at- tack airlines that carry Soviet Jewish im- migrants to Israel. The organization, believed made up of Shiite Moslems loyal to Iran, made the threats in a statement delivered to the newspaper An-Nahar, accompanied by a photograph o American educators kidnapped in 1987. The others are Alann Steen and Jesse : Turner, The statement denounced “media reports about humanitarian moves to free the hos- tages” and asked “the authors of these moves not to interfere in this matter be- cause we are holding agents and spies against our people, and they will be exe- cuted if the American administration fails to meet our demands.” Mongolians Promised Vote Ja ULAN BATOR, Mongolia—Mongolia’s new Communist Party leaders promised to hold the country’s first free elections after 69 years of communist dominance. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 obert Polhill, one of three | CPYRGHT
CPYRG CPYRGHT DRISCOLL--GAMMA-LIAISON neacekeepers on patrol north of the Israeli border A New Victim — in Lebanon Terrorists kidnap a U.S. officer serving Nations observers A glaring security breach: Higgins in ‘the field = with unprotected United he first reports were bad enough. A US. Marine Corps officer attached to a United Nations peacekeeping unit had been kidnapped in south- T, ern Lebanon, apparently by pro- Iranian gunmen. The victim, Lt. Col. Wil- liam R. Higgins, 43, instantly disappeared into Lebanon’s terrorist underground, where eight other Americans have long | been held prisoner. Then came word that made the nation’s newest hostage drama look even more serious. It turned out that in his previous assignment, Higgins had worked in the office of Caspar Weinberger, who was secretary of defense at the time. Contrary to usual practice, Higgins went from his sensitive post at the Pentagon toa new job as an unarmed, unguarded U.N. observer in lawless Lebanon, with an American flag sewn on his shoulder. It wasn’t clear what Washington could do to help Higgins. President Reagan off- handedly told reporters that “we'll try to get him located, and certainly we want to rescue him.” Fearful of increasing the risk to Higgins, White House aides quickly said that they had no idea where he was being eld and insisted that no rescue mission 32 NEWSWEEK : FEBRUARY 29, 1988 GPYRGHT as in the works. ratio trongest hope was that other Muslim mili- iamen would track Higgins down and take im away from the rival Shiites who kid- apped him—a perilous undertaking at he first place. For more than 48 hours, the Pentagon managed to keep a lid on Higgins’s back- round. The Defense Department’s new spokesman, Assistant Secretary Dan How- ard, easily persuaded Pentagon corre- spondents not to publicize the fact that “Rich” Higgins had spent two years as a relatively low-ranking aide to Weinberger. But that was hardly a secret; Higgins’s as- signment was listed in recent editions ofthe Pentagon phone book, which is sold to the public. Two days after the kidnapping, a Beirut radio station revealed the Weinber- ger connection. With Higgins’s cover blown, the Pentagon announced that he had served as “a junior military assistant” and was “one of 36 people who worked in the immediate office of the secretary,” where “handled paperwork and other adminis- €1R000400040001-3 a ‘Somvus agape ‘a! ale periok Weinberger’s top military assistant was Ch lin Powell, then an Army major generaland now Reagan’s national-security adviser. Higgins, who is married to a Marine ma- jorandhasa teenage daughter, volunteered for duty with the United Nations in Leba- !. non. He was facing one of the toughest : “outs” in an officer’s career, the jump from lieutenant colonel to full colonel, and there was a shortage of jobs in which he could stand out. “He wanted a field command,” said one colleague, “and he wanted some- thing that was adventuresome, where he could be independent.” The U.N. assign- ment would give him command of 75 truce observers and could open the door to other political-military slots in Washington. Pulling strings: He was well qualified for the job, having specialized in Middle East issues during a hitch on the Pentagon’s International Security Affairs staff. Hig- gins pulled strings to get the U.N. assign- ment, which normally goes to an Army officer. Pentagon gossip had it that Wein- berger’s influence won him the post; in any case, his position on the secretary’s staff gave him what the military calls “juice.” Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
Approved For Release 0} g| oo7s9R000400040001 -3 ie on \~. hunts a ee ms Marine: a colonel TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — United Nations peacekeeping troops and Shiite Moslem militiamen sealed off 300 square miles of southern Leba- non today, searching for a kidnapped U.S. Marine officer who heads a U.N. observer team. Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, 43, was abducted yesterday by gunmen who blocked a highway and pulled him from his car. His abduction brought to nine the number of Amer- icans held hostage in Lebanon, U.N. troops and Justice Minister Nabih Berri’s Shiite Moslem Amal _ militia combed the region around the ancient port of Tyre’ as the search went into its second day. “We hope the kidnappers will have no chance of slipping out with their captive. That’s why all exits have been blocked,” an Amal spokes- man said. Timur Goksel, spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said the search had U.N. | “peacekeeping troops operating in trair zone and Amal militia active in othéx non-U.N. sectors. He xaid. Amal “has vowed to car- ry on the search until Higgins is found.” ~ 4 Officials said two gunmen in a brown Volvo car seized Higgins af- ter blocking the coastal highway three miles south of Tyre. Higgins was driving back to UNIFIL head- quarters in the. border town of Nagoura after meeting Amal offi- cials. Higgins, of Danville, Ky., has commanded the 76-member Observ- CPYRGHT CPYRGHT : LEBANON, From Al “ ment’s military commander in south per Group, Lebanon, since Jan. 8. The rssQTOUP, made up of officers from 16 iacountries, is attached to the 5,800- yaman, nine-nation UNIFIL, deployed #in south Lebanon since 1978 to police wthe border with Israel. ku Higgins was the third U.N. offi- **oial to be kidnapped in south Leba- non in two weeks and the 25th for- sveigner being held in the country. «a Amal spokesmen refused to say ““whether they believe Higgins was “seized by the militant, pro-Iranian w<Hezbollah, or Party of God, which tahas been vying with Amal for domi- ‘nance of the south. Hezbollah fac- cations in Beirut are believed to hold aamost of the 24 other hostages. tm Plainclothes militia security men **4n cars blocked roads along the Li- rstani River from the Mediterranean “coast 25 miles inland to the slopes of Mount Hermon. vi Uniformed. militiamen armed aswith submachine guns .and rocket- sypropelled grenade launchers pa- Apphoiled Fat'Reldaser2h0 08108 “coast from the _@assmieh Bridge LT. COL. WILLIAM HIGGINS Pulled from car by gunmen north of Tyre to the scene of the ab- duction, the spokesman added. “Qur men are searching villages in an 800-square-kilometer area north, east and south of Tyre,” he said. “U.N. troops are blocking the southern exits.” vised by Daoud Daoud, the move- Lebanon, and security chief Moham- med Harqous. “They have personal orders from Berri that no one sleeps until we get the man back,” the spokesman told _ the Associated Press. He said Amal was “anxious to protect and safeguard UNIFIL irre- spective of the nationality of the peacekeepers. Amal views Higgins’ abduction as a deliberate challenge.” Security sources said French spe- cialists were dispatched to Tyre from UNIFIL headquarters to inter- rogate an unidentified Lebanese bus driver who claimed he witnessed the abduction. “The French have managed to draw a face sketch of the gunman the eyewitness says he saw pointing a pistol at Higgins’ head as he forced him into the kidnappers’ car,” said one source, speaking on condition of anonymity. In Washington, White House spokesman Roman Popadiuk said : CIAKRDRS6 O79 ROS04000 40004 told the kidnappers responsible” for n Higgins’ salely.
CPYRGHT Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 Dashingsr P ot ws Fu eg U.S. Marine Officers Abducted in Lebanon Gunmen Seize Colonel Working With U.N. - By Nora Boustany Special to The Washington Post BEIRUT, Feb, 17—A U.S. Ma- rine officer in charge of a U.N. ob- server group in Lebanon was kid- naped by unknown gunmen today as he drove in a two-car convoy near the southern port city of Tyre. The officer, identified by Penta- gon officials as Lt. Col. William ‘Richard Higgins, 43, of Wood bridge, Va., was seized ‘after leaving ‘a meeting in Tyre with Abdel Ma -jeed Saleh, a senior political officia of the mainstream Shiite Mosle Amal group, Amal officials said. By late tonight there was nd claim of responsibility for the attack and no indication of who might hava carried it out or of the motive. The kidnaping, which brings tq nine the number of Americans held captive in Lebanon, brought imme diate expressions of concern fro. the White House and the United Nations, whose forces in southern peace-keeping Lebanof | mounted a wide search for the miss} ing officer. “Most of [the U.N. peace-keeping force] is involved in the search, i cluding helicopters, and we are get ting substantial help from Amal, Timor Goksel, spokesman for th¢ U.N, peace-keeping force, said. The White House called for thf prompt release of Higgins. Pres dent Reagan, asked about the kid naping as he boarded Air Force Onf in California to return to Washing ton after a vacation, said, “We’r} still investigating, trying to lear| more about it.” U.N. Secretary General Javig Perez de Cuellar, traveling in A rica, expressed “profound concern a U.N. spokesman in New Yo said, and Undersecretary Gener Marrack Goulding, who is traveli 1 i ftorts to gain t, began diplomas ic efforts to gain iggins release, Hl. The kidnaping came just 12° dayh after two Scandinavian officials « the U.N. Relief and Works Agency which administers the Palestini refugee camps in the Middle Eag were kidnaped by unknown gunmg in southern Lebanon, and it rais¢ new fears for the safety of the tho sands of foreigners working in ve ious U.N. organizations in chaolf Lebanon, Higgins served with the U. Truce Supervision Organization, small unit that, since its formati in 1948, has supervised armisti agreements between Israel a Unit Leader Had Sought Lebanon Duty By Molly Moore and Lynda Richardson Washington Post Staff Writers Marine Lt. Col. William Richard (Rich) Higgins, kid- naped by gunmen in Lebanon yesterday, “actively sought” the post with the U.N. obser- vation unit he heads in that country, according to Penta- gon officials. Higgins, 43, lived in Wood- bridge when he was assigned, last June to the Lebanon Ob- server Group, part of the U.N. Truce Supervision Or- ganization that operates throughout the Middle East, Pentagon officials said. Last month, he became chief of the 75-member Lebanon unit, which includes 16 U.S. mil- itary officers, officials said. Pentagon and State Depart- ment officials said yesterday that Higgins’ kidnaping has not triggered discussions about removing the remaining U.S. team members from Lebanon. “These people are not as- signed as a national contin- gent,” said State Department spokesman Charles E, Red- man. “There are U.S. officers assigned to this organization, and as such, they are under thé authority and responsibil- ity of this [U.N.] organizas |b. tion.” pressed concern over the vul- i pafexability: Of Ue serv- ing in Lebanon;’ nating*thate.;). the State Department has recommended: for the past several years that American civilians leave that country. But other military officials noted that the United States has participated in the UN. unit since it was formed in 1948 and did not withdraw its members even after the 1983 bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks, in which 241 Ma- rines and other U.S. person- nel died. The Lebanon Observer See MARINE, A19, Col. 1 Some Pentagon offidtals ex- CPYRGHT Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
Approved For Releasé 2000/08/08 * CIA-RDP96-00789R000406040001-3-~-- CPYRGHT Hostage Escape Attempt lann Steen, one of nine | teeth when he was beaten, American hostages still | Singh said. heldin Lebanon, triedtoescape | One of three teachers cap- from his terrorist captors but | tured with Steen from the Bei- was caught and beaten, U.S. in- | rut University College campus telligence has learned. Fellow | in 1987, Singh told US. officials hostage Mithileshwar Singh, | he was treated better than the CPYRGHT an Indian with U.S. resident | Americans because he is Indi- status who was freed last ; an. The four men were kept in month in Damascus, has told | Beirut but moved frequently U.S. officials that Steen didn’t | because their captors feared a make it far before neighbors in | U.S. rescue effort. Most of the the Beirutsuburb wherehewas | time they were chained and held last year spotted him and | sometimes blindfolded. Their turned him in. Several fillings | captors never talked politics; were knocked out of Steen’s | critical of the United States, —~——=———ens | they also fantasized about a US. visit. All four hostages had expected to be released around Election Day or the presiden- tial Inaugural, Singh said. HOSTAGES The Taxmen Strike Again It was just the sort of heartless harassment that has made the Internal Revenue Service one of the most resented arms of the Federal Government. A while ago, the IRS sent a computerized notice to journalism professor Alann Steen, telling him that if he did not cough up back taxes due on his 1984 return within 30 days, the tax collectors would take him to court. But there was a hitch. For the past 21 months, Steen has been one of the Americans held hostage by Islamic terrorists in Leba- non. As such, Steen, 49, seems to qualify for the unofficial IRS policy not to pursue hostages or prisoners of war. That exemp- tion expires once a hostage is freed. It may be enough to make captivity look just a little bit appealing. : TIME, NOVI Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
CPYRGHT Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 Israel Says 5 Hezbollah Guerrillas Killed Associated Press JERUSALEM, Aug. 24—Israeli troops ambushed and killed five guerrillas of the pro-Iranian Hez- bollah group in southern Lebanon today, the Army command said. Six of the soldiers were wounded. Guerrilla and Israel artillery bat- teries exchanged fire after the bat- tle, and the attacking soldiers ‘moved back behind their lines, Is- rael television reported. Hezbollah, or Party of God, is an umbrella group for Shiite Moslem extremists believed to be holding American hostages in Lebanon. The clash was near the village of Kaou- kaba, north of Israel’s security zone in southern Lebanon. The zone, up to 10 miles wide, is patrolled by about 1,000 Israeli sol- diers and more than 1,000 Sout Lebanon Army militiamen trained and financed by Israel. The Army command said the Israeli force op- erated in Lebanese territory on a search-and-destroy mission. The Army command said five of the soldiers were treated on the spot and a sixth was slightly wound- ed and hospitalized. Israeli troops were last known to operate outside the security zone in May, when they attacked two Hez- bollah strongholds, killing more than 40 guerrillas. Three soldiers died in those attacks. In Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded up to 15 Palestinians today. Troops fired on Palestinians who hurled stones and burned tires in the central market, the Army said. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
CPYRGHT Approved For Release 200 TON Post Ws ay DPF P96-00789R000400040001-3 £¢OE JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATTA Why Khomeini’s Designated Heir Quit Ruhollah Khomeini tortured their own ambassador to the United Nations nearly to death,. That was the last straw that drove Khomeini’s designated successor to resign last month, according to a highly sensitive Central Intelligence Agency report. The report details the secret struggle between Khomeini and Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, T he fanatical followers of Iran’s Ayatollah -who was designated in 1985 as Khomeini’s heir. According to the CIA, Montazeri was furious over the arrest of Mohammed Mahallati, Iran’s _ ambassador to the “United Nations. The Pasdaran, Khomeini’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed that! Mahallati.was-not- faithful to the revolution. They arrested him in Tehran and tortured him until he had a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital i in critical:condition. It was too much for Montazéri, who had long been disgusted with Khomeini’s abuse of civil rights in his country. The resignation doesn’t make Montazeri a saint. Even at his most charitable, he is by no means a nite guy. It was Montazeri who called for attacking' Americans anywhere in the world after the USS. Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner mistaken for a bomber last summer. For years, Montazéri has supported terrorism against ‘Americans: : Montazeri’s faction leaked the story of the U.S. _ arms-fot-hostages deal to a Lebanese magazine in November 1986. Montazeri had hoped that the exposure would cripple the chief backer of the deal, franian Speaker of the Parliament Hashemi afsanjani. Instead of being mad at Rafsanjani, turned on Montazeri and had at least 200 of Montazeri’s followers arrested, including his son, son-in-law and brother-in-law. The brother-in-law, Mehdi Hashemi, was tried for various “crimes” and executed in September 1987. , Montazeri wisely kept a low profile after that episode, but would occasionally object to Khomeini’s repressive domestic policies. Last summer, when Khomeini’s regime hit rock bottom and had to accept a cease-fire in its long and bloody war with Iraq, Montazeri was emboldened. He wrote at least two secret rs.of protest to - Khomeini about.the torture imprisonment ‘and executions of political opponents." > ~~ har eee Thousands of dissidents, many of them members ..4. . of the anti-Khomeini People’s Mojahedin, have been .|’ imprisoned without trial and tortured to make’ ‘them admit the error of their ways or cough up the’ names of their compatriots. Khomeini ordered wholesale executions of his opponents after the cease-fire. He feared that without the distraction of a war, his internal enemies could foment rebellion. Montazeri’s objections festered for months. Khomeini became increasingly angry with the man. who was once his student, -whom he called “the, light of my life.” ': 0 etna pai With:Montazéri’s fd’ es the U.N. ambassador, Khomeini demanded his resignation. Khomeini said it, was clear Montazeri didn’t have the stuff to succeed him to this “very grave responsibility that requires endurance more than your capacity.” Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
CPYRGHT 30 Approved For Release 200ghyso9/ ClA- 96-00789R000400040001-3 © Can Nominee Illuminate Hostage Deal?. ‘State Dept.’s Bartholomew Was on Scene of First Arms Shipment CPYRGI By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer Reginald Bartholomew, whose confirmation hearing as. President Bush’s choice for undersecretary of state for security affairs, science and technology takes place today before the Senate Foreign Rela- tions Committee, was on the scene for the first, and one of the more mysterious, arms-for-hostages ship- ments in the Iran-contra affair. He was the U.S. ambassador in Beirut when Israeli shipments to Iran of 508 American-made TOW antitank missiles led to the release on Sept. 14, 1985, of the Rev. Ben- jamin Weir, one of six Americans then held by Islamic Jihad, a group of pro-Iranian extremists, The background of that first arms-for-hostages shipment, and particularly the involvement -and knowledge of it by then-President Reagan and his top Cabinet advis- ers, has never been publicly ex- plored, although it formed the foun- dation of the Iran-contra scandal. In their first statements, shortly after reports appeared in November 1986 about the arms sales to Iran, Reagan and others said they had not known about the September 1985 shipments and their relationship to Weir's release. The president and his aides have always said the operation was run solely by the Israelis. Materials released by the White House-authorized Tower Review Board, by the congressional Iran- contra panels, at the trial of Oliver L. North and in. interviews with par- ticipants show that U.S. involve- ment in the September 1985 events was greater than publicly disclosed. North testified at his trial last week that there ‘was ongoing intel- ligence’-monitoring of the: planning by the Iranians and Israelis for the September shipment and U.S. re- sponses. “We were aware when Rev. Weir was going to be re- leased,” North said. “We: didn’t know which hostage it was or how many there would be. We had to position people in places where he could be’ safely recovered and brought back to the United States.” Government sources have de- scribed how a U.S. aircraft carrier was moved near the Lebanese coast and Delta Force commandos were ° put aboard to be ready to attempt to free any hostages not released in response to the arms shipment. Under the plan, a counterterror- ist team would be sent into Beirut in hopes it.could track the hostage release operation. If all six Amer- icans were not freed, the plan called for trying to follow the hostagé- holders back to their headquarters and mounting a rescue operation after the location of remaining pris- oners was determined. Weir was released Sept. 14, but - his freedom was kept secret. He was flown to the U.S. carrier and interrogated by the head of the Del- ta Force, then transferred to Nor- folk and questioned again. On Sept. 18, when it became apparent no more hostages would be freed and the counterterrorist teams had failed to locate the others, Weir’ s release was announced. At his trial last week, North said ~ mn that “at the direction of the pres- ident” he met with Weir, carrying a letter from Reagan “in an effort to assure Rev. Weir that his cooper- ation was necessary for us to be able to help rescue the other—or recover the other hostages.” Bartholomew, who has been in- formally interviewed, but never . called as a witness in any of the in- vestigations, was identified by Sec- retary of State George P. Shultz in. his 1986 appearance before the Tower board as having informed him on Sept. 4 that “North was han- dling an operation that would lead to the release of all seven hos- tages,” according to the board. “{A U.S.] team had. been deployed to Beirut, we were told,” the report quotes Shultz as saying. “Ambassa- dor Bartholomew had been ‘alerted directly by the [National Security Council] and would assist.” The record on this first arms-for- - hostage effort is far from clear, and Bartholomew’s knowledge could help in reconstruction of those events. Reagan has said he cannot re- member if his authorization of the Israeli September arms_ transfer :- took place. before or after the event. Then-national security adviser’ Robert C. McFarlane, who said it was authorized beforehand, has been fuzzy in his recollections of how the shipments occurre Then-Defense Secretary ‘Caspar W. Weinberger, who,’ received copies of the electronic intercepts that North said monitored events closely, has maintained he knew nothing about the arms shipment and its relationship to the hostages. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 ONDAY, APRIL 17, 1989\A17 | T Ae Oe ee ERE A BE o-p Pn a = _ Bot we ae ee A ee .
CPYRGHT Approved For Release 200/08) 08neGIh-REIRG6iGOd $90 ~ ent ow Approved For Release 20Po/osios : ciA-RDP96-00789R00040004000123 ” band g * aA Syria, [ran Impose ‘Truce in Lebanon By Nora Boustany — Washington Post Foreign Service BEIRUT, Jan. 30—Syria and Iran, the chief supporters of two warring Lebanese Shiite Moslem factions, signed an ‘agreement today that is intended to impose a truce on the rival groups and allow the pro-Iran- jan Hezbollah forces to return to southern Lebanon. Officials from all three countries expressed hope that the accord also will-help gain the re- lease of foreign hostages. Leaders of the pro-Syrian Amal movement ‘and representatives; off Hezbollah, -which is backed and fi- nanced by’ Tran, grudgingly met /and embraced in Damascus after signing a pact negotiated by Tran and Syria. BS; ister Farouk: Charaa attended the signing ceremo- ny and told reporters later: “Any pos- itive step in Lebanon like this will , help gain the release of hostages.” . Tranian ' Akbar i expressed thé same wishes when prodded to comment on the issue. “Anyhow,” he said, “we do i hope that all hostages, despite their ‘nationalities, will be freed very soon on humanitarian grounds.” ° Amal leader Nabih: Berri, asked | about the fate of U.S. Marine Lt.. Col. William Higgins, abducted by Hezbollah on Feb. 17, 1988, .said:]' that the agreement did not specif- ically deal with the hostages but he, |: too, sounded an optimistic note. “I can.say I am sure this agree- ment will help the release of the hostages [as] quickly: as “possible, but I cannot say or give a date for that,” Berri said. Under today’s agreement, secu- rity in. Beirut’s southern. suburbs, . where most’ of the foreign hostages. reportedly are held, would ‘be con- | , Sidered :as ‘part. off Beirut’s overall” inister_-Ali . The plan signed today was the out- come of long talks over the past week between Charaa and Velayati as well as senior ‘Amad and Hezbollah officials. The accord, worked out, to end bitter. fighting. that has killed more than 150 people in the past three weeks, was a setback to efforts by Amal to shut Iran-inspired ex- tremists out of the embattled south. Amal fighters drove Hezbollah from southern Lebanon last April with the aim of policing and paci- fying that part of the country to protect it from Israeli reprisal raids provoked by guertilla attacks. ‘The agreement, however, calls for a return to the situation béfore April 1988, but also provides. that Amal will be in charge-of security in south- ern-Lebanon and. ‘allows: both factions | to. carry out political, cultural and | propaganda activities there, A vague article provides'that Amal | and Hezbollah will establish a joint military operations room in southern Lebanon to “coordinate. and escalate resistance missions against Israel, with each side retaining the right to carry out individual operations.” An Amal spokesmen here said he was “not exactly happy. with the end result, but it seems this is the best they could come up with, ” The agreement calls on'both par- ties to abide -by a’ cease-fire that — was declared last’ "Wednesday but has been largely ignored. : ' Theonly clear victory: for the more moderate Amal movement isa ~ Sides. ._ should “hac ed & groups attacked. UCN. troops i in‘southern: Lebanon in 11986, and Hezbollah has seen them which “in; theory, at. least,.| }4S. an. obst | guts:the, mainly: Shiite slums’ under | y inicontrol: - a: *“Analysts liére said last week that, | | ‘in-atty case, the: intensity of Syrian and’ Iranian - ‘péace-making ° efforts into focus. land wounded 15 ty the motorcade of G Phalange : Party: President: , George Q04-Saadeh was'not hurt, but his car -was destroyed.
‘NGTON Post CPYRGHT wife may be released from.a U.S. prison and ‘sent to Israel in a three-way trade that could mean freedom for one or more of the American hostages in Lebanon. US. intelligence sources tell us that the White A merican traitor Jonathan Jay Pollard and his - House and State Department are engineering the swap, which also may involve a top Soviet spy who has been secretly imprisoned i in Israel for five years. . Here is how the complicated trade would work: The United States would send Pollard and his wife, Anne Henderson Pollard, to Israel. Israel would release a captured Soviet spy to the Soviet Union. As the last link in the chain, the Soviet Union would lean on Syria and Iran to negotiate the release of. . one or more American hostages being held by terrorists. Syria and the Soviet Union are allies, and Syria controls Lebanon. The Soviets are desperate enough for the release of their spy, Marcus Klingberg, to consider pulling some strings for U.S. hostages. Klingberg is bélieved to have entered Israel as a Jewish “immigrant” and then penetrated Israeli military intelligence for the Soviet Union. His career as a spy ended in.1983 when he was arrested by Israeli counterintelligence. Klingberg’s coup in penetrating the inner workings of Israeli intelligence and his arrest have been kept a secret from the Israeli people and the world. Pollard, an American citizen, is serving a life ‘ prison term in.the United States for spying on the United States for Israel from 1984 to 1985. His wife is serving a five-year term as an accessory. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATTA Swap of Spies, Hostages in the Works? The Israeli government, embarrassed that it was caught spying on the United States, claimed that... Pollard was part of a renegade operation. ‘Israel has . consistently denied any interest in having Pollard -. released. But our sources.say Israeli officials have: . been working behind the scenes, to:get Pollard out. __ The Justice Department, which has jurisdiction ” ; over Pollard, has réfused to consider a swap, $0 the Israelis turned to the State Department and White House to try to cut a deal. ‘Two experts in the art of spy-swapping have been recruited to make the arrangements—East Berlin lawyer Wolfgang Vogel and an American rabbi in'‘New York. Anne Pollard’s father, public relations executive _ Bernard Henderson, has led the public campaign in © the United States for the release of the Pollards and has made much of the fact that his daughter i is suffering from a stomach disorder: -If the three-way-swap is carried out, it is likely : that only the Pollards’ side of the triangle will be acknowledged publicly. The United States could ‘explain the release of Anne Pollard as a _ humanitarian gesture. The release of Jonathan: Pollard would be harder to finesse. It ‘would be the first.time a U.S.-born citizen and: traitor was turned over to another country. : Pollard gave the Israelis more than’ 1, 000 classified’documents, and more than 800 of those were top secret. His revelations included intelligence about Syrian and Iraqi ‘chemical weapons, Palestine Liberation Organization radar systems and Libyan air defenses, fe Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 . FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1988 ES
CPYRGHT Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96- 00789R000400040801S CHT THE WASHINGTON POST .»» WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1988 A2Q. 3 Iranian Mines Found; U.S. Ship Reports Silkworms Fired Monday By Molly Moore Washingtoa Post Staff Writer No more armed clashes between US. and Iranian naval forces were reported in the Persian Gulf yesterday, but internation- al minesweeping units found three addition- al Iranian mines in gulf shipping channels and confusion erupted over reports that Aran had launched Silkworm missiles at ‘American warships during Monday’s bat- tles. President Reagan said yesterday the gul activity was “quieting down and we hope it ‘stays that way” after U.S. warships at- tacked two Iranian oil platforms in retalia- tory action that set off a string of sea and air battles that the Pentagon said sank three Iranian vessels and crippled three others. The captain of the frigate USS Jack Wil+ ‘liams reported that five Chinese-made Silk- worm missiles were launched against three American warships during missile ex changes between U.S. and Iranian forces i the Strait of Hormuz Monday. Defense Department officials said yes terday they have no “positive proof” that the Iranian missiles were Silkworms, the most powerful in Tehran’s arsenal. But the officials said that evidence of Silkworm at tacks would add a new dimension to the gulf conflicts and could prompt further retali ation against Iran. _ Pentagon spokesman Dan Howard said that in the aftermath of Iran’s renewed mine-laying activities and Monday’s battles the United States is “reassessing” its forceg in the gulf region. There are 30 Navy shipg in the gulf and north Arabian Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, official said. A Marine Cobra attack helicopter wit two crewmen aboard remained missing yes terday as nine ships and numerous helicop ters continued to search for it, but no other American military personnel were reported “men as Capt. Stephen C. long hostilities, Defense Department offi- cials said. They identified the missing Cobra crew- eslie, 30, and Capt. Kenneth W. Hill, 39, assigned to Squadron HMLA-167 baseq at the New River, N.C., Marine Corps Afr Station. Pentagon officials said there were no re- ports of hostile fire in the 4rea where the Cobra was conducting patro Monday. The helicopter was reported migsing after dark when it was 40 minutes late eturning to its base on the guided missilf cruiser USS Wainwright. fi Tranian officials reported i sailors were killed and 29 day’s clashes, A French minesweeper di covered three additional mines yesterday. as an interna- tional- mine-hunting force continued comb- ing the central gulf area where the U.S. frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts hit a mine Thursday, ripping a nine-foot gash in its hull and injuring 10 crewmen. - Pentagon spokesman Howard said yes- terday that American, Dutch and French vessels have found eight Iranian mines since then, excluding the one struck by the Roberts. “All are new and receritly laid,” he said, adding that serial numbers have identified all of the mines as recently manufactured Iranian weapons. He said it is unknown whether the additional mines have been sown since Friday. Howard said Pentagon analysts are sift- ing through reports that are pouring in from U.S. units involved in Menday’s gulf battles. Many of the details remain confusing and contradictory, officials said. The most controversial issue involves reports from the officers of the Williams that their radars tracked five Silkworm mis- siles fired from Iran at three U.S. warships that had exchanged missile attacks with the at 15 of their lounded in Mon- Iranian frigate SaAppresvedifomeleafse 2060/N8/SinE MALRD the gulf. worm attack was supplied by a pool of U.S. reporters who were aboard the Williams, but Pentagon officials say they have no pos- itive proof that any Silkworms were fired. The journalists’ pool reported that. five times the call went up on the bridge of the Williams: “Silkworm incoming!” after the ship’s radar detected the missiles. Each time the frigate turned violently to put its stern to the oncoming missile and fire metal particles called chaff into the air to confuse the missile’s radar guidance system. “Everybody look astern! Everybody look astern!” Lt. Augustino Ponturier, the officer of the deck, shouted. None of the first four missiles were close _ enough to be observed visually from the Williams, according to reports. But the re- ported fifth attack sent crewmen sprawling flat on the deck as a missile crossed astern of the ship and slammed into a nearby oil rig with an orange-yellow flash. Adm. William J: Crowe Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Rea-, gan and Republican leaders during a White, House briefing yesterday that “we have no! positive evidence to indicate that Silkworms were used,” Howard reported, He said the Williams and.the other ships in its group “were operating well. within the envelope [range] of the Silkworms. . Any ship operating in such a circumstance that gets a track on-the scope has to assume a worst-case scenario.” Pentagon sources said U.S. reconnais- sance aircraft patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz detected no activity at known Silk- worm sites. Officials noted that Iran has never before fired Silkworm missiles from its mobile launch sites along the Strait of Hormuz, with the exception of one known, test-firing. It has launched several Silk- worms from the Faw Peninsula at the northern tip of the gulf—one of which hit an American-flagged Kuwaiti tanker last Oc- on two oil platforms at the Rostam field a PasioersgRebo4dob4bo0 Tras. ASSOCIATED PRESS USS Wainwright takes part in search for helicopter that failed to return from a patrol Monday. Pentagon officiais speculated that in the -heat of battle the skipper and crew of the Williams may have misidentified the mis- siles. The Chinesebuilt Silkworm is essen- - tially the same weapon as. the Soviet Styx missile, which Inn has been known to launch from‘surface'ships. Officials noted that half a dozen different types of missiles ind other weapons were fired by. both sides. in a sea-and-air melee that involved the Williams and two other U.S. ships, U.S. A$ attack planes, and two of Iran’s biggest warships, the sister frig- ates Sabalan and S:hand. Army Maj. Barry Willey of the U.S, Cen- who was accompanying journlists aboard the Williams, described the scene from tls flying bridge atop the ship as “both spectacular and frightening,” adding that contrails from missiles could be seen in all directions, The Pentagon reported that the Sabalan fired a surface-to-surface missile at the Wil- liams and antiaircraft missiles at A6s from the USS Enterprise. The planes responded by dropping laser-guided bombs that hit the Iranian ship, disabling it. The Sabalan was reported in port yester- .day. Officials said it is believed to be seri- ously damaged. Meanwhile, the Sahand was struck ‘by laser-guided bombs and Harpoon antiship missiles from the A6s, and a Harpoon from the USS Strauss, a frigate. Left a smoking wreck, the Sahand “has disappeared” and is presumed sunk, Howard said.
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 Tehran Attacks British ‘Treachery,’ Cites Need to Defend Islam By Jonathan C. Randal Washington Post Foreign Service LONDON, March 7—TIran se- vered diplomatic relations with Britain today at the expiration of Tehran’s week-long grace period, during which the two countries failed to resolve their three-week dispute over British author Salman Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses.” In fiery language that echoed of the religious fervor that powered Tran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, the nation’s Foreign Ministry an- nounced the rupture in a statement that simultaneously accused Britain of treacheries dating back centuries and proclaimed Iran a global pro- tector of Islamic honor. “In the past two centuries Britain has been in the front line of plots and treachery against Islam and Moslems,” the ministry statement said, reiterating a view of British manipulation in Iranian affairs that CPYRGHT has been common in Iran since the late shah Mohamed. Reza Pahlavi was ousted a decade ago. “The Foreign Ministry considers itself not just the executor” of: Iran- ian foreign policy, the announcement added, “but in a larger scope the executor and protector of thé for- eign policy of the Islamic world against blasphemy and thus regards defending Islam and its values as a divine and legal responsibility.” A British Foreign Office spokes- ‘Inan said today the government:had not yet received formal notification of the Iranian action. That notifica- tion would likely come by way of the Swedish Embassy, which now Tep- resents British interests‘in Tehran. ~ The spokesman added that the For- « eign Office would “make known its - response in due course.”. oo Britain withdrew its five-man : staff from the Tehran embassy, ; which had. resumed normal opera- | tions only last November, after the a ¥ pea E | Iran Breaks Diplomatic Ties With Britain. 12-nation European Community pulled out its top envoys from Iran ‘to protest an order of death against Rushdie that was- pronounced ‘by Ayatollah Ruhollah’. Khomeini, the Iranian’spiritual leader. - The British Foreign Office spokes- man said“the present situation was entirely of. Iran’s making,” had been “vigorously condemned around the world” and “made it impossible to conduct normal business.” < .~ Today’s announcement seemed to confirm the Iranian Foreign Min- istry’s political accedence to the+ hard-line policies of Islamic funda- mentalists in the governnment. The fundamentalists have used the Rushdie: crisis to’ reinvigorate the Islamic:;" revolution, which was drained ‘by. Iran’s. eight-year war -. with Iraq,.and have attempted to prevent any. diplom the Westie 9:8! Khomeini. first. invoked _Iran’s claims to.pan-Islamic responsibilities _ on Feb. 14 when he issued the PYRGHT————__ decree against Rushdie, whose he declared. a blasphemy « Islam. Last week, British Foreign retary Geoffrey Howe, in an eff defuse the'crisis, criticized the as “offensive” to Moslems, the ish government and many Br. Iran, however, rejected the ge as insufficient to lift the death tence against Rushdie, who ren in hiding under police protectic Britain... The first consequence of the lomatic’: break with Britain Iran’s refusal to allow a prom consular visit today to 53-year businessman. Roger Cooper, \ has been detained on spy charges in Iran for three years. [Reuter reported that Jc aite, cousin of Church of Engle envoy Terry Waite, who vanished Beirut in 1987 and is believed he by pro-Iranian kidnapers, said (“But no one could condone tt order to kill Rushdie,” Waite said, ' don’t see that the British gover: ment could have acted in any othe Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
App elease _ CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 O she pie ¢tOd-C. sagueiaat Mata ZO AUN Past One Peace- Keeper Not Free to Colebr ale : By Richard Homan Washington Post Foreign Service. While most of the 10,000 U.N. peace-keeping troops were cel- ebrating their Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, one of the forces’ high- est-ranking American members, Marine Lt. Col. William R. Hig- gins, was in his 226th day of cap- | T tivity in the Middle East. Higgins, of. Woodbridge, Va., was kidnaped last Feb. 17 near Tyre, in southern Lebanon, where he was serving as head of a 76-member unit of the U.N. - Truce Supervision Organization. ULN.. officials and Higgins’ fam- ily used the occasion of the an- nouncement yesterday to renew demands that his captors free him. Higgins’ sister, Mary Fisher, told United Press International in Louisville, Ky., “I hope this proves CPYRGHT ° to them that they are holding a man who was on a peace mission. We have been praying hard since my brother was abducted. We hope this Nobel prize will bring an answer to our prayers.” Higgins’ captors—the _Organ- f.the O oO ressed_ on arth—-raccused him of using his U.N. post as a cover for US. es- pionage, a charge U.S. and U.N. officials have strongly denied. Higgins, 43, was seized by gun- men who ambushed his U.N. ve- hicle after he left a meeting with a senior official of the Shiite Moslem ig Amal group, Amal officials said. - The U.N. group in which Hig- gins served since June 1987 was formed in 1948 to supervise armi- stice agreements between Israel and Arab countries. Earlier Hig- gins served here and lived in iy co WILLIAM R. HIGGINS . 226th day as hostage Woodbridge with his wife, Marine : Maj. Robin Higgins,:-who is as- signed to the Pentagon. | | I CPYRGHT - Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
By Lou Cannon Washington Post Staff Writer exploring “inconclusive signals” that ‘| some of the nine American hostages now held captive in Lebanon wil soon be freed, a knowledgeable U.S. official, who asked not to be ‘| identified, said yesterday. ; But the administration is ap ‘| proaching the issue gingerly be | cause of its sensitivity and because past reports of prospective hostage releases have not proved accurate. White House spokesman Marli Fitzwater, commenting on a stor in The Wall Street Journal about “fresh hopes” that some of the hos tages may be released before the end of the year, said he knew of na change in the situation, Fitawater CPYRGHT we're always ef ing, also had those hopes dashed so of- ten that we’re reluctant to read anything into those events.” The events to which he referred include the recent release of a West German hostage, apparent political changes in Iran and a message last week from one of three Iranian- backed terrorist groups thought to be holding U.S. hostages. The group released a photograph of two hostages, Alann Steen and Jesse Turner, and issued a statement hinting that they might be freed if the United States supported: Pales- tinian autonomy. Fitzwater said Reagan plans to raise the hostage issue next week when he meets with a number of the region’s foreign ministers dur- ing a two-day U.N. visit. But an of- ficial who participated in a planning g ¥ ; P, Shultz conducted for the trip said the issue would be brought up only “peripherally.” Nonetheless, officials said they took seriously various signals that some U.S. hostages may be freed. “This is such a sensitive and emo- tional issue, it’s best not to talk about it publicly at this time,” one ‘ official said. On other issues yesterday Rea- gan signed a spending bill that al- locates $1.2 billion for the fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome and prodded Congress to complete work on 13 appropriations bills before fiscal 1989 begins Oct. 1. Reagan also urged Congress to complete work on a $299.5 billion defense appropriations bill similar. in some of its features to a defense authorization bill he vetoed earlier. Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 tinue the policies of the last eight years—the policies that led the So- viets to the bargaining table and out of Afghanistan,” Reagan said. “I want defense legislation that will advance national security, not sac- rifice it on the altar of congressional pork barrel.” At the same time, Fitzwater praised Congress for making prog- ress on appropriations measures and said Defense Secretary Frank C, Carlucci was ready to negotiate. “We're trying to walk a fine line between praising the Congress and prodding it on these appropriations matters,” said an official. RN Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 CPYRGHT
Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 Lo LEE Lr, 74 “ CPYRGHT .. Kenneth Wells, -25, who officials said works in Saudi Arabia, and his wife, Samia, were seized as they U.S. Karate Ex p ert Frees left their wedding reception in Baal- . . bek, 50 miles east of Beirut. Himself, Bride From Captors Wells, who has a black belt in karate, according to his wife, over- SEIRUT, Sept 12—An Amer-| Powered his attackers and the cou- ican who had just been married to a ple fled to a Syrian military post. Lebanese woman used karate to They were taken to the U.S. Em- escape, still wearing’ his tuxedo, bassy in Damascus and released. from men who tried to abduct him In Washington, State Depart- and his bride shortly after the wed-]_ ment spokesman Charles Redman expressed gratitude to Syrian au- = for their assistance. Washington Post Foreign Service CPYRGHT Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3
CPYRGHT ’ Marlene Cordes leaves her home in Frankfurt after learning that her husband was about to be released ce Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 ~ AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beirut.
- Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 7 rn og Saete cee eee laa: Tae WASHINGTI Gunmen in Leb: Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent of The, ‘Associated Press, March 16, 1985. ~ Thomas Sutherland, dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut, June 9, 1985. i i Frank Herbert Reed, director of the Lebanon International School i in Beirut, Sept. 9, 1986. - | Joseph James Ciclpplo, acting ‘comptroller of the American University of Beirut, Sept. 12, 1986. , Edward Austin Tracy, author, Oct. 21, 1986. Jesse Turner, visiting professor of mathematics and computer science at Beirut University College, Jan. 24, 1987. Robert Poihill, assistant professor of business at Beirut University College, Jan. “4, 1987. Alann Steen, journalism professor at Beirut University College, Jan. 24, 1987 Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, head of a 75-man observer group attached to the U. N. Interim Force in Lebanon, yesterday. Alec Collett, March 25, 1985, John McCarthy, April 17, 1986. Terry Walte, Jan. 20, 1987. Marcel Fontaine, March 22, 1985. Marcel Carton, March 22, 1985. Michel Seurat, May 22, 1985. Jean-Paul Kauffmann, May 22, 1985 Rudolf Cordas, Jan. 17, 1987. Ralph Rudolf Schray, Jan. 27, 1988. Mithiieswar Singh (Indian), Jan. 24, 1987 Brian Keenan (Irish), April 11, 1986. Albarto Molinarl (italian), Sept. 11, 1985 Wililam Jorgensen (Norwegian), Feb. 5, 1988. Jan Stening (Swedish), Feb. 5, 1988. Two people of unknown nationality were kidnaped Jan. 26, 1987. NOTE: In March 1986 Istamic Jihad claimed that Michel Seurat had been killed. The following month the Revctutionary Organization of Sacialist Moslems said Alec Collatt had beon killed. SQUPCE Assceoted Preis Kpproved For Release 2UUU/USIUG : ~ LEBANON, From Al neighboring Arab countries. The organization’s 75-man unit in Leb- anon, which Higgins headed, worked closely with the much big- ger—and better known—U.N. In- terim Force in Lebanon, the actual peace-keeping force. Higgins, according to witnesses and U.N. officials here, was return- ing to the U.N. peace-keeping force’s headquarters at Naqurah, 15 miles south of Tyre, when he was abducted at 2:15 p.m. focal time (7:15 a.m. EST). He was driv- ing alone in a U.N. car flying the blue-and-white U.N. flag, they said, ‘following another U.N. vehicle, iwhen three men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles inter- cepted his car as the first vehicle rounded a curve near Ras Ain, four miles south of Tyre. Witnesses said they saw the gun- men shove Higgins into the trunk of a red Mercedes and speed off with him along a dirt road forking off the main coastal highway. When the three U.N. officers in the first vehicle realized Higgins was no longer following them, Gok- sel said, “they turned back and found Higgins’ car empty.” The coastal stretch where the attack took place is contested by the Amal militia and the more rad- ical, tran-backed Hezbollah move- ment, which in 1986 launched rock- et attacks against soldiers of the U.N. peace-keeping force. Amal chief Nabih Berri went into a closed session with key miktary advisers this evenin . Hassan Yous- CPYRGHT
HOSTAGES The Lost Life Of Terry Anderson The American journalist is beginning his fifth year in captivity somewhere in the bowels of Beirut, a coin for a cruel human barter that no one has been able to redeem BY SCOTT MACLEOD magine it. You are chained to a radia- i tor in a bare, dank room. You never see the sun. When your captors fear that a noise in the night is an impending rescue attempt, you are slammed up against the wall, the barrel of a gun pressed against your temple. Each day you have 15 minutes to shower, brush your teeth and wash your underwear in the bathroom sink. Your bed is a mat on the floor. One of your fellow hostages tries | to escape, and the guards beat him sense- | less. Another tries to commit suicide. One day you too reach the edge of your sanity. scalp and smears down your face. Life has been like that for Terry An- Ahostage’s never ending ordeal: a picture chronicle of Anderson's captivity. When it suits them, the kidnapers send Polaroids or videotapes of their hostage toa news agency in Beirut. The pictures accompany the kidnapers’ repeated demands; in the videotapes, Anderson usually pleads for help to win his freedom. The final words in his last message: “One day soon, God willing, this will end.” CPYRGHT You begin furiously pounding your head | against a wall. Blood oozes from your derson ever since March 16, 1985, when the chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press was kidnaped in West Beirut. The men who grabbed him. members of the Shi‘ite Muslim funda- mentalist group called Hizballah, were in- tent on swapping Western hostages for 17 comrades imprisoned in Kuwait for a ter- rorist spree. Four long years later, Ander- son is still held hostage. From accounts by his former fellow captives, TIME has pieced together a glimpse of the life he has led. The first day: Terry Anderson lies on a cot in a dingy apartment in Beirut’s sprawling, bomb-ravaged Shi‘ite slums. A blindfold is tightly wrapped around his head, and chains shackle a wrist and an- kle, biting into the flesh. He can hear the roar of jets; Beirut airport is near. The for- mer U.S. Marine is stunned and sobs con- stantly, frustrated, angry and afraid that the kidnapers intend to execute him. A guard bursts in and threatens him merely because he creaked the bedsprings. “I am a friend of the Lebanese,” Anderson had told his family. “They won’t kidnap me. I tell their story to the world.” Anderson is lost in the bowels of Bei- rut, but he is not alone. In the same 12-ft. by 15-f(. bedroom, also shackled hand and foot and crouching on the floor of a dirty clothes closet, Father Lawrence Martin Jenco of Catholic Relief Services {kidnaped Jan. 8, 1985) peers under his blindfold at the new arrival. A month lat- er, they are led down to the dungeon, a basement partitioned into cramped cells with thin plasterboard, and held prisoner with others: William Buckley, Beirut sta-
bnnrovod = CPYRGHT Edward Tracy, a writer _ from Vermont who was fiv- . Terry Anderson, corre- Spondent for Associated Press, was kidnapped Frank Herbert Reed, direc- tor of Lebanese Interna- tional School, was kid- Jos<ph Cicippio, comp- uoller at American Univer- | Sity in Beirut, was kid- nerced Sent 12, 1636. ing in Beirut, was abducted | Oct. 21, 1986. Thomas Sutherland, agri culture dean at America University of Beirut, wa seized June 9, 1985. - eine Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : , March 16, 1985. BO a ER Rebert Polhill, a business professor at Beirut Univer- sity College, was seized Jan. 24, 1987. napped Sent. 9, 1986. Jesse Turner, a math in- - Strucior at Beirut University College, was kidnapped Jan. 24, 1987. j CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3 ort Alann Sieen, a journalism professor at Beirut Univer- sity College, was kid- napped Jan. 24, 1987. LT. COL. WILLIAM HIGGINS | Bulled fink INS Car by ounmen .
Vin Dp Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400 Yaa wane pee U.N. Team Goes to-Gulf War Fror mw TEHRAN—A small group of U.N. military observers left for the war front to prepare for the U.N. peace-keeping force that will monitor a cease-fire in the war between Iran and Iraq. Military and diplomatic sources in Iran re- CPYRGHT fused to speculate on how the observers would react if Iraqi-backed People’s Mujaheddin dis- sidents ignored the cease-fire. The Iranian dis- sidents, who said they would continue to wage war within Iran, have an army estimated at 30,000 based in Iraq. Meanwhile, a government-run newspaper here said in an editorial hat I will “spare GHT no effort” to Press for th Po hostages held in Lebanon, freedom ofsBritish Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00789R000400040001-3