POTENTIAL ROLE OF 3RD PARTIES LOOMS LARGER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200084-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 84
• Publication Date: September 19, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/31 : CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200084-9
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ON PAGE .$-=-- USA TODAY
19 September 1985
Potential role
of 3rd parties
looms larger
By Don Kirk
USA TODAY
The release of the Rev. Benjamin Weir from captiv-
ity in Lebanon dramatizes the potential role of Syria
and other countries in winning freedom for "the other
six" Americans held by Lebanese terrorists.
The question is what the United States - and possi-
bly Israel - can do to make the hostages' release
worthwhile for their captors.
"The Syrians would like to help if they were confi-
dent it would help their relations with the United
States," said Richard Parker, former ambassador to
Lebanon and now editor of the Middle East Journal.
The importance of a quid pro quo was clear from
the timing of Weir's release - several days after the
freeing of the last of more than 700 Lebanese Mos-
lems held by Israeli authorities at the Atilt prison
camp in northern Israel.
One problem in cutting a deal is that U.S. officials
still are not sure who held Weir - or has the others.
Telephone calls from people claiming to represent
the Islamic Jihad, or Holy War, remain a mystery.
Callers have said the Jihad holds the U.S. hostages but
experts are uncertain if it really exists - or is merely
a name used by radicals with similar aims.
The hostages are still believed to remain in the Be-
kaa Valley near Baalbek - largely under Syrian con-
trol but partly occupied by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah,
or Party of God.
U.S. officials are convinced, though, that neither
Syrian President Hafez Assad nor Nabih Berri, leader
of the Syrian-backed Shiite Amal militia, favors hold-
ing hostages. They have appealed to both for whatever
they can do as intermediaries.
"Assad has generally played a helpful role in Leba-
non," said State Department spokesman Mike Austri-
an. The Syrian leader, wielding strong influence
among all Lebanese factions, wants the fighting there
to die down so Syria, hard hit economically, can re-
sume foreign trade through Beirut.
Approved For Release 2011/08/31 : CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200084-9