HOSTAGE IS DEAD, KIDNAPERS REPEAT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100660002-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 28, 2011
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 13, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100660002-0
AMICLE 1
ON PIKE
WASHINGTON
POST
13 FILE ONLY
1985
Hostage Is Dead, Kidna~rs Repeat
Islamic Jihad Offers Buckley's Body for 100 Palestinian Prisoners
By Nora Boustany
Spccinl to't he Wayhingtoo Peet
enmerit hotd4 the captors fully re-
s nsible"for the safety of all the
l tages."f -
MJ'.S: EMbaAy officials here, who
sAr 'blink and white enlargements
d1 the "Polafoid photos, said, it
c be Buckley. We have-no in~_
f tion'to disprove it, and we
cannot certify who it is."
'We- shall represent irrefutable
~'of of Buckley's execution," to,
day's statement said. It added that
Miamic Jihad, which took respon-
siAihity= for- Buckley's abduction in
Pefosiemr -contreied west Beirut 19
months ago, was.ready to put Buck-
leg-'s corpse at the "disposal of the
Lk ited Nations-and its chief, Javier
Perez de Cuellar, on condition that
100 Palestinian prisoners are freed
from Israeli jails."
The group offered to deliver
Buckley's remains 24 hours ahead
of the release of the Palestinians. It
warned that the U.S. government
was responsible for the fate of five
other Americans whom Islamic Ji-
had says it holds.
The prop?sal`to barter Buckley's
bodyr for -100: Palestinian prisoners
in Israel represented a shift from
Islamic Jihad's standing demand
that 17 prisoners in Kuwait, held in
the bombings of U.S., French and
Kuwaiti facilities in 1983, be re-
leased.
JIM. Islamic Jihad's latest state-
ment on the fate of Buckley in-
creased concern for the safety of
the remaining American hostages,
ment and President Reagan will be
responsible for any harm to the lives
of the hostages we are holding."
The communique rebutted U.S.
media reports that Buckley was
killed months ago, describing them
as "lies."
Islamic Jihad vowed to reply
"with an iron fist to any blow to, the
Moslem people of the world. We
will even cut off the hands that try
to strike at Moslems. Everybody
knows that Islamic Jihad carries out
what it says."
It called for the expplsion of Is-
rael from the United Nations and
said that in response to its recent
condemnation of the Oct. 1 strike
against Tunis, Islamic Jihad was
ready to turn over Buckley's body
to Perez de Cuellar.
"In response to the [U.N.I con-
demnation and having obtained per-
mission from the families of the mar-
tyrs to dispose of the body of the
American spy, we in turn put it at
the disposal of the United Nations
and its chief, Javier Perez de Cuellar,
on condition that 100 Palestinian
prisoners are freed from Israeli jails.
To show our good intentions, we will
deliver the body 24 hours before the
date of releasing the prisoners in
Israel," the statement said.
The latest Islamic Jihad commu-
nique came two days after a pub-
lished statement by the Islamic Lib-
eration Organization claimed that
three Soviet Embassy officials kid-
naped on Sept. 30 would not be
freed before Syria's intentions in
Lebanon became clear.
Al Shiraa, a Lebanese weekly
considered close to leftist militia
groups in Beirut, reported in its
latest issue that the killing of Soviet
consular secretary Arkady Katkov
was not planned but resulted be-
cause he had lost blood from bullet
wounds he received when he re-
sisted his abduction.
BEIRUT, Oct. 12-The secre-
tiye Islamic Jihad today reiterated a
claim that it had executed kidnaped
U.S. diplomat William Buckley and
made a bid to swap his body for 100
Palestinians jailed in Israel.
The statement, delivered at mid-
night, was accompanied by two
overexposed Polaroid photographs.;
The faded pictures showed the face
and upper torso of a man cloaked
with a sheet. The bearded figure
bore a strong resemblance to Buck-
ley, and reproductions of the snap-
shot offered the first possible ev-
idence that the U.S. Embassy po-
litical officer kidnaped here last
year may be dead.
"We assure the Moslem people of
the world that we have executed
the American spy in reply for the
blow dealt to the Moslem people in
Tunis," said the Islamic Jihad com-
munique, distributed to the daily An
Nahar and a western news agency.
Eight days ago, the same organ-
ization announced Buckley's exe-
cution in retaliation for an Israeli
raid against the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization headquarters
south of Tunis. The first claim was
accompanied by a picture showing
Buckley still alive. The communi-
que, delivered to the press last
week in the midst of a crisis over
the kidnaping of Soviet Embassy
rsonnel and the slaying of a So-
t diplomat, had left open the
question whether Buckley actually
was dead.
(In Washington, a State Depart-
ment spokesman said that the Unit-
ed States does not regard the pho-
tograph purported to be of Buckley
"as convincing evidence that Mr.
Buckley is no longer alive. We re-
iterate that the United States gov-
all kidnaped in west Beirut between
March 1984 and June of this year.
"We warn America and hold it re-
sponsible for , what happens to the
other hostages," t a -statement said.
"We address, the families of the
American hostages and say with full
regret that the American govern-
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100660002-0
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100660002-0
TERRORISTS
OFFER PROOF
This Polaroid picture,purports to
show the body of kidnaped U.S.
diplomat William Buckley. The
Islamic Jihad offered the body to
- U.N. Secretary General Javier
Peres de Cuellar in exchange for
100 Palestinians held in IsraeL
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100660002-0