Friday, January 30, 1987/The Battalion/Page 9
World and Nation
hultz says Iranian groups have
[strong ties to Beirut kidnappers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State
jGeorge P. Shultz said Thursday there are
■ “strong ties” between Iran and the kidnappers
■ of three Americans in Beirut, and he ruled
lout any deal to win their freedom by dropping
[prosecution of a Lebanese terrorist suspect.
! Shultz said of the shadowy groups claiming
responsibility for abducting three Americans
and eight other foreigners in Beirut: “It is our
basic information that with whatever names
may emerge,they are to a substantial degree
[linked together.”
Shultz’s comments, in a satellite news con-
Iference with reporters in Europe, Israel and
Japan, supported a White House official who
said Wednesday on condition he not be identi
fied that the latest round of kidnappings are
the work of a cell within Hezbollah, or Party
[of God, a militant Moslem group with ac
knowledged ties to Iran.
Officials had said previously they were not
[sure who was behind the latest abductions.
Shultz’s spokesman, meanwhile, brushed
[aside a threat by the group holding the three
JAmericans to kill the captives if the United
|States retaliates with military force.
State Department spokesman Charles E.
[Redman said, “We hold all captors, whoever
[they may he, responsible for the safety and
[well-being of the hostages. Our position con
cerning terrorism and hostage-taking is firm.
We’re not going to negotiate, make conces
sions, or give in to terrorists’ demands.”
As for whether the administration has de
cided to retaliate if the hostages are killed,
White House spokesman Larry Speakes said,
“It is our basic information that
with whatever names may
emerge they are, to a substantial
degree, linked together. ”
United States Secretary
of State George Shultz
“There are many options that are certainly
available to us, but I would not comment on
any of them, particularly that one.”
The Pentagon said U.S. naval forces have
bolstered their visibility in the Mediterranean
Sea and Persian Gulf as a show of support to
“our friends in the region” in light of intense
fighting between Iran and Iraq and the dete
riorating situation in Lebanon.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Robert Sims
added that the ship movements are needed to
ensure that President Reagan “has all options
available to him that he might choose.”
Three American instructors at Beirut Uni
versity College — Alarm Steen, Robert Polhill
and Jesse Turner — were among the captives
taken this month after West German authori
ties arrested Mohammed Ali Hamadi, a Leb
anese under indictment in the United States
on charges of hijacking a Trans World Air
lines jetliner to Beirut in 1985.
During the hijacking, Robert Stethem, a
U.S. Navy diver, was killed, and 39 Americans
were held hostage for 17 days.
The West German government still has not
acted on a U.S. request for Hamadi’s extradi
tion and a reporter in London asked Shultz if
the United States might consider dropping its
demand for Hamadi if such a move could
help win the release of the hostages.
The secretary, who has been critical of the
administration’s hostage negotiating efforts,
responded with a sharp, “No.”
“Our efforts and request for extradition
stands,” Shultz said. “I am certain it will con
tinue to stand.”
“If somebody is indicted and there is evi
dence of complicity in a dire crime, the hijack
ing of an airplane and the murder of one of its
occupants and the virtual torture of others, in
a civilized society we must follow through and
punish such ci imes,” Shultz said.
Moslem kidnappers
say hostages will die
if U.S. strikes Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Mos
lem kidnappers said Thursday they
will kill four men seized last week
end if U.S. military forces attack
Lebanon, and they released a pic
ture of an American captive with two
automatic rifles held to his head.
Anglican Church envoy Terry
Waite remained out of sight for the
10th day. He is negotiating with the
captors of two Americans held since
1985.
The hostages threatened with
death Thursday are three Ameri
cans and an Indian abducted Satur
day at Beirut University College.
In Washington, a Reagan admin
istration official said: “We hold the
captors responsible for the safety of
the hostages. We call for the imme
diate release of all hostages. We do
not speculate on any course of action
the United States may or may not
take.”
Defense Department sources said
11 kidnappings in Moslem west Bei
rut in less than two weeks prompted
the United States to hold the aircraft
carrier John F. Kennedy and its 1 1-
ship battle group in the Mediterra
nean Sea. They called the action pre
cautionary and one said, “The cur
rent posture of our forces is not a
threat to anyone.”
The USS Nimitz, scheduled to re
lieve the Kennedy, also is in the
Mediterranean.
Robert Sims, chief Pentagon
spokesman, said the naval
movements would “ensure that the
president has all options available to
him that he might choose.” He
would not say what military options
President Reagan was considering
but dismissed speculation that Navy
ships were preparing to evacuate
Americans.
The United States declared Leb
anon off-limits to its citizens and told
the estimated 1,500 Americans still
here that their passports would be
revoked if they did not leave within
30 days.
A group calling itself Islamic Ji
had for the Liberation of Palestine
made the death threat in a hand
written Arabic statement delivered
to a news agency in west Beirut.
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