TOP SUSPECT IN BEIRUT BLAST EMERGES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404030072-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 72
• Publication Date: November 4, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404030072-3
WALL STREET JOURNAL
1983
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Top Suspect in Beirut Blast ~-i'lauTgus
But Finding a Culprit
Leaves Open Question:
Should U.S. Retaliate?
By DAVID IGNATIUS
And GaLAI.D F. SEIB
StgffReporters of THE WAU. STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON - Pictures of Hussein
Moussavi show a small, neatly dressed
man with a dark beard that seems to over-
whelm his face. He is a school teacher by
profession and a man with a family prob-
lem. Friends say that he was driven-from
his village in eastern Lebanon nearly a
decade ago after he killed one of his cous-
ins in a quarrel.
Mr. Moussavi is emerging as the-prime
suspect in an unusual intelligence dragnet
U.S. officials say
they are nearing a
firm judgment that
he and his extremist
Shiite Moslem sup-
porters planned the
bomb attacks
against U.S. and
French soldiers in
Beirut last month-
probably with help
from Iran and
A Reagan admin-4
bombings this way: Hussein Mou ssavi
"There are intelli ence estimates that
iden ' Moussavi and his gro_p as being
associated with the attacks, with Iranian
support and Syrian acquiescence."
If the U.S. reaches a firm conclusion
that Mr. Moussavi and his supporters are
the culprits, it will face an agonizing deci-
sion about whether to retaliate. President
Reagan warned in a televised speech last
week: "Those who directed this atrocity
must be dealt justice, and they will be."
STATPhe Reagan administration this week
remains committed to retaliation. But
some policy makers question such tactics,
suggesting that they could open the U.S.
Marines to further terrorist acts and also
complicate a solution to the Lebanon
crisis.
The simplest retaliatory operation
would be an attack against the headquar-
ters of Mr. Moussavi's "Islamic Ama]"
faction in Baalbek, in the Syrian-controlled
Bekaa Valley. Some U.S. officials favor a
commando raid against the headquarters,
while others argue for an air strike. Offi-
cials suggest that the U.S. could hit the liv-
ing quarters of Mr. Moussavi's group, in
addition to their command center.
The Baalbek option has problems. A
commando attack would require moving
into territory controlled by Syrian troops.
An air strike would risk hurting bystanders
in a crowded urban area, one U.S. official .
notes. Moreover, an air strike could be
dangerous for the U.S., since attacking
planes would probably_ be vulnerable to
Syria's extensive air-defense system,
which is partly manned by Soviet troops.
Finally it isn't even certain that those re-
sponsible for last month's terrorist attacks
have remained in the Baalbek area.
The Reagan administration also is con-
sidering diplomatic reprisals. For exam=
pie the U.S. may urge Lebanon to close
France, Britain, Israel, Jordan and Saudi
Arabia. In addition to these human
sources, the U.S. has various forms of
technical surveillance. The array of infor-
mation is being analyzed now in a final
"all sources" intelligence effort.
The case against Air, Moussavi and his
pro-Iranian supporters isn't yet conclusive,
partly-because of the difficulty in gather-
ing reliable information in Lebanon. U.S.
officials cite three sorts of evidence.
-Analysis of the method of operation.
The fact that the attacks were suicide mis-
sions suggests that the drivers of the
bomb-laden trucks were extremist Shiite
Moslems
who believe that b
d
i
,
y,
y
ng in a
the Iranian Embassy ]n Beirut, which holy . cause they will gain a place in
heaven. The fact that French troops were
American officials believe was a meeting hit-at a time when Iran is furious at
place for the terrorists. The U.S. might France for selling sophisticated jets to
consider sanctions against Syria as well. Iraq-suggests that the attackers were
But even these relatively mild diplomatic -
measures are blocked now by the Leba- falls on niMr Thus, suspicion immediately
nese "national reconciliation" discussions pro-Iranian an falls o Shiite s t the most extreme
ne leader der In Lebanon.
n.
in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. doesn't . -Surveillance. At about 6:32 on the
want to disrupt those talks, which offer the morning of the attacks, roughly 10 minutes
best hope for stabilizing Lebanon and get- . after the bombs exploded, a group of men
Ling American troops out.. - was seen leaving the Iranian embassy in
An alternative to retaliation is negotia- Beirut and driving off at high speed. Their
tion of a security agreement with Syria flight indicates that the Iranian embassy
that would protect American troops in Leb- may have known about. or helped coordi-
anon. The U.S. adopted this approach with nate the bombings. U.S. officials also sus-
the Palestine Liberation Organization in pect that the Iranian embassy may have
the 1970s, and it helped stop' attacks been a contact point for Mr. Moussavi's
against Americans in Beirut. The U.S. and followers in Beirut.
Syria talked last week in Damascus about -Agents' reports. In recent weeks: U.S.
security problems, but there isn't any sign intelligence had picked up rumors that
that Syria is ready to offer any solid coop- there would be a "spectacular attack" by
eration. pro-Iranian Shiites against "the godless
Syria's role in the Lebanon crisis is cru- Americans and French." Last week, as the
cial because it has the power to encour- U.S. and its friends pumped for informa-
age-or forestall-terrorist raids. L.S. and lion, intelligence contacts in Lebanon re-
Lebanese officials argue, for example, that peat y named Mr. Moussavi as the man
it would have been difficult for Mr. Mous- behind the attacks. "People who are
savi's Shiite group to gather and transport sources of various intelligence services are
the explosives that killed at least 234 saying that Moussavi did it," says one offi-
American and 56 French troops without the cial -
connivance of the Syrian armed forces and
intelligence network in Lebanon.
"It's naive to imagine that anything
happens tin Syrian-controlled parts of Leb-
anon) without the Syrians," explains a
Lebanese source. Adds Richard Helms, a
one-time ambassador to Iran and Central
Intelligence Agency director. 'You don't
get trucks and 2,000 Pounds of dynamite
from the local drugstore."
. Syria, Iran and Mr..Moussavi have all
denied responsibility for the bombings. But
all three have gloated about the carnage.
Gathering Clues
In its investigation, the U.S. is drawing
on a range of sources. The U.S. has covert
contacts in some Lebanese factions; these
are supplemented by the much broader
network of the Lebanese Deuxieme Bu-
reau, the Intelligence unit of the Lebanese
army. The U.S. can also --s-t-u-2ly-intelligence
reports from friendly countries, such as
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404030072-3