U.S. AIDE, ABDUCTED IN BEIRUT, SEEN ON VIDEOTAPE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200137-0
Release Decision: 
RIFPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
2
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 30, 2011
Sequence Number: 
137
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 29, 1985
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200137-0.pdf174.87 KB
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Approved For Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200137-0 DPI ENEW YORK TIMES January, 1985 29 U.S. Aide, Abducted in Beirut, Seen on Videotape By BERNARD GWY.RTZMAN Special to TIM New Y Jrt 710" WASHINGTON - One of five Amer- icans apparently kidnapped in Beirut over the last 10 months was seen today in a 56-second videotape in which he called on the United States to "take ac- tion for our release quickly." However, the American, William Buckley, a political officer in the United States Embassy in Beirut, did not specify what Washington had to do to gain freedom for the five.. ' On the -videotape, Mr. Buckley said that he and .two .other missing Amer- icans were well. He mentioned Jeremy Levin, the Beirut bureau chief for the Cable News Network, and the Rev. Benjamin M. Weir, a Presbyterian minister.- He made no. mention of the two Americans most recently listed as missing in'Beirut, Peter Kilburn, a li- brarian at the American University, who failed to report to work on Dec. 3 and is presumed kidnapped, and the Rev. Martin Lawrence Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest who headed the Catho- lic Relief Services office, who was seized on Jan. 8. Many Unanswered Qi estioos The videotape, initially released by a private, London-based television news agency, appeared to have been made by Mr. Buckley's captors in the last week. The tape did not clear up the uncer- tainty over who is holding the Amer- icans, where they are, whether. all five are being held by the same group and what the conditions are for their re- lease. Ww" William Buckley, a U.S. diplomat, In videotape apparently made recently. Ater' channels. It was shown, however, , -, to. - Cable : News Network executives, they said., president Rein. commenting to- `?ttay, said he could not reveal details of American diplomatic efforts, but said, %elieve me, this is very much on our bftdC" ~;.~. State, Department official said, a"We honestly don't know for sure who wee' are dealing with, or where the pris- .opera are, or now many there are, or Release of those prisoners was also maioe it easier to conduct quiet diplo. the demand made by the hijackers of a matic efforts through the Syrians and It was learned from non-Government sources today that another videotape was sent secretly to the State Depart- ment last July and that the earlier tape might provide a clue to the unexplained statement by Mr. Buckley. That videotape, whose existence was confirmed by Reagan Administration officials, showed Mr. Levin, Mr. Weir and Mr. Buckley, with Mr. Levin mak- ing a statement calling for the release of prisoners held by Kuwait. Kuwait arrested 17 Shiite Moslems in connection with explosions at the American and French embassies and at Kuwaiti Government buildiaga In Kuwait in December 1983. Continued Kuwaiti airliner that was forced to fly to Teheran last month. The hijackers,' who killed two American officials aboard the plane before eventually being taken into Iranian custody, failed to win the release of the prisoners. A senior State Department official said, however, that it was not definite the Beirut abductors were demanding the release of the prisoners in Kuwait as the condition for freeing the Amer- icans. Recent telephone calls to new$ agencies in Beirut have demanded that all Americans leave Lebanon. State Department officials said to.. day that American officials had not publicized the original tape order to Approved For Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200137-0 Approved For Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP91-00587ROO0100200137-0 what we are supposed to do to get them released." Anonymous. phone calls in Beirut have said the five Americans were being field officials believe Islamic Holy War. ethis is a name used by a number of extremist Shiite groups in Beirut. The videotape released today was first shown to reporters by Visnews; a television news syndicate founded by Reuters, the British Broadcasting Cor- poration and the national broadcasting companies of Australia, Canada and New Aland. Its managing -editor, Kevin Hamil- ton, would not say how Visnews got the tape. It was subsequently shown by NBC News on the program "Today." In the tape, Mr. Buckley, who is 56 years old, was shown wearing a brown, jacket and standing before a blank.. wall. He held up the Jan. 22 issue of a French-language Beirut daily,'L'Ori-,', eat-Le Jour. Today, the' 22d of January. "1985,. I. am well and my friends Benjamin Weir' 'and Jeremy Levin are also well," Mr. Buckley said. "We ask that our Gov enunent take action for our release quickly." Mr. Hamilton said his agency had not ; received any written statements with the tape. Mr. Levin's wife, Lucille, said in an interview on the "Today" program that she thought the tape was "a very good sign." She said it was a signal for negotiations, but she pointed out that Mr. Buckley had mispronounced the name of her husband as leh-VEEN in- Stead of,LEHV-in. "Apparently they are not being held in the same. room," she said. "Two men who've been held together for a year would at least get their last names correct." . ,: . A State Department official, who also noted the mispronunciation;?said it was. possible that -Mr. Buckley was sending some kind of signal by the mis- take. President Reagan, when be was asked by reporters today what the United States was doing to obtain the prisoners' release, said, "That's some- thing we can't talk about." - -.- -But believe me,"'he continued, --this-is very much on our minds. We haven't forgotten that they're in cap- tivity. I don't think it would-be produe tive for us to talk about what we're Asked if the efforts were making- progress, Mr. Reagan replied, "I'm not going to tell the sere." ,Mr. Levin disappeared last March 7 and was assumed to have been abuct-; ed. Mr. Buckley was seen being kid- napped as he left his apartment house on March 16. Mr. Weir was sees being seized by gunmen last May 8. Approved For Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP91-00587ROO0100200137-0