Word: berrie
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...main reason for the nerve-racking 24-hour delay in the release of the hostages was a last-minute demand by Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal militia, that Washington give assurances there would be no retaliation by the U.S. or Israel against the Shi'ites after the hostages were set free. Amal spokesmen conveyed their anger at some remarkably ill-timed remarks on Friday by Reagan. In the speech in Chicago Heights, Ill., the President called the captors "murderers and barbarians," adding ominously: "Terrorists, and those who support them, must and will be held to account...
Amal leaders seemed to be satisfied. One militiaman quoted Syrian officials as saying that the U.S. had given an assurance not to retaliate. As Berri explained to reporters on Sunday, "We were ready to take them to Damascus yesterday, but after Reagan threatened us we had to delay their departure. I had to talk to the hijackers and to my people...
Another serious obstacle that developed on Saturday morning was that Berri's militia did not have control over four of the captives, who were being held by Shi'ite extremists of Hizballah (Party...
...resolution of the hostage crisis, however, involved not public interviews in Beirut but a tense backstage diplomatic drama on three continents. On Monday, Berri had seemed intransigent. He dismissed as insignificant Israel's release of 31 Lebanese prisoners early in the week. What about all the Lebanese still held in Atlit? he asked. He threatened to turn the hostages back to the original hijackers. One U.S. official went so far as to predict that "we probably are not going to get all these people back in any event...
...coverage "America Held Hostage," echoing the network's tag line for the Iranian crisis. But when staffers protested, the idea was dropped. Though Amal leaders have displayed the same eagerness to talk with reporters that Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr did five years ago, there is a crucial difference: Berri, unlike Banisadr, is also speaking with U.S. diplomats...