SYRIAN CITES CONCERN FOR U.S. HOSTAGES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200136-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 136
• Publication Date: February 2, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100200136-1
rAGr ~t - I `J
~yr~an Cites
~oneern for
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J By Kathy Sawyer
K'ashington Post Staff Writer
Syrian Ambassador Rajik Joue-
jati, iu a joint news conference yes-
terday at his embassy here with the
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, told report-
ers that Syria has been doing "all it
could" to find out who is holding five
Americans captive in Lebanon and
to press for their release.
"The results so far are negative,
that is, there are no results. But we
are not despairing," Jouejati said.
"We cannot be accused of any neg-
ligence. VGe have nothing to do with
this problem but, for humanitarian
purposes, we shall continue to work
for their release."
Jouejati and Jackson met for 30
minutes and discussed the captives
in the broader context of the need
for, in Jackson's words, "a new level
of respectful dialogue"'for Mideast
peace.
Jackson said he has not deter-
mined when he might visit Syria to
attempt a repeat of his feat of De-
cember 1983, when he negotiated
release of a captured U.S. Navy
flier. Jackson has vowed to use his
good relations with the Syrians to
v~ork toward release of the cap-
fives.
"The commitment by this (Syr-
ian] government to do whatever it
can certainly is positive," he said,
calling this week's emergence of a
videotape of one of the captives "a
source of inspiration."
Jackson described Reagan admin-
istration efforts on the captives as
"inadequate" and called for an inter-
natonal peace conference involving
all nations with an interest in the
?vliddle East conflict. The Soviet
THE WASHINGTON POST
2 February 1985
Union has proposed such a confer-
ence, but the United States has op-
posed it as premature and not likely
to be fruitful. Israel also is opposed.
The administration has adopted a
policy of not talking about specific
efforts to free the captives, but has
said it is pursuing contacts with the
Syrians and a variety of others.
The captives, kidnaped from the
streets of Moslem-dominated West
Beirut in the last year, include U.S.
diplomat William Buckley, who ap-
peared on the videotape; Jeremy
Levin, Cable News Network bureau
chief in Beirut; the Rev. Benjamin
Weir, a Presbyterian minister; Pe- ~
ter Kilburn, a librarian at the Amer-
ican University of Beirut; and the
Rev. Lawrence Jenco, a Roman
Catholic priest who headed the ~
Catholic Relief Services office in ~
Anonymous telephone callers
claiming to belong to the terrorist
entity known as Islamic Jihad have
said the group is holding the five
and have threatened to try them as
spies.
Jackson has kept in touch with
some of the captives' relatives and
plans to meet with them in Chicago
today.
Approved For Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100200136-1