GUNMEN SEIZE U.N. AIDE IN BEIRUT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200114-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 114
• Publication Date: May 16, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200114-5
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WASHINGTON POST
16 May 1985
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Gunmen Seize U.N. Aide in Beirut
Photos of Six Kidnaped Westerners Sent to Newspapers
By Nora Boustany
Special to The Washington Post
BEIRUT, May 15-Gunmen kid-
naped a high-ranking Irish official of
the U.N. Relief and Works Agency
today, raising fears of a resumption
in abductions of westerners in the
Moslem-controlled sector of the
Lebanese capital.
Aidan Walsh, 46, the deputy di-
rector of UNRWA, which runs re-
lief and educational . programs for
Palestinian refugees, was inter-
cepted by armed men in two cars as
he was being driven to work at 7:20
a.m. along the seafront Corniche.
When his Palestinian driver pro-
tested, the kidnapers put a gun to
his head and smashed the wind-
shield of his car with the butt of a
Kalashnikov.
The abductors, dressed in com-
bat fatigues, pointed a ' gun at
Walsh's chest. Two of them seized
him by the arms and another
pushed him from behind into the
back seat of a car after he had been
ordered out of his own, which was
flying a U.N. flag.
Walsh is the second UNRWA of-
ficial to'be grabbed at gunpoint in
Lebanon and the 12th foreigner
known to have been kidnaped this
year. On March 25, British journal-
ist Alec Collett, working as an in-
formation consultant for UNRWA,
was abducted just south of Beirut.
- He was the last of nine westerners
to disappear here in March and un-
til today, no more abductions had
been reported.
jlslamic Jihad, a mysterious
group believed to be a front for ex-
tremist fringes of the Shiite Mos-
lem community, or others who
would like to drive westerners out
of Lebanon, sent Beirut's major
newspapers color photographs of
six of the kidnaped westerners and
demanded release of convicted
Moslem terrorists imprisoned in
Kuwait, United Press International
reported.
~ictures. Published Thurs-
[The
day in several Beirut dailies, were
of four Americans, William _Buckley,
an embassy political officer; Terry
Anderson, the Beirut bureau chief
of The Associated Press; the Rev.
Lawrence Jenco, head of Catholic
Relief Services here, and of the
Rev. Benjamin Weir, a Presbyterian
minister. The other two photos
were of two French diplomats, Mar-
cel Fontaine and Marcel Carton.-
There was no indication when the
pictures were taken.)
Jihad also claims to be holding a
fifth American, Peter Kilburn, a_
librarian at the American Univer-.:
sity of Beirut and a Saudi diplomat.
The frequency of such kidnap
ings, which peaked in March,_
prompted an exodus of westerners,..
especially among U.N. personnel , .
involved in relief activities.
Both UNRWA officials and Irish,
diplomats here said they doubted
that Walsh's abduction, for which"
no group has claimed responsibility-
so far, would lead to a pullout of-
foreign staff members.
Walsh arrived in September to
help clear up corruption at
UNRWA. He was described as a
tough administrator who does not
shy away from disciplining person-
nel. Last year, an Irishmen and a
Briton from UNRWA left Lebanon
after receiving threats from local
employes affected by a crackdpwn
on abusers of UNRWA property.
Approved For Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200114-5