Word: cuellar
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Described by Perez de Cuellar as "more of a soldier than a diplomat," Picco was a natural choice for the dangerous assignment. The Italian-born Picco, 43, first worked for Perez de Cuellar in Cyprus with the U.N. ! peacekeeping forces in the 1970s. He joined the Secretary-General's personal staff in 1982, and was part of the team that negotiated the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Once pragmatists in Iran's government concluded that the hostage crisis had to be resolved, the first man they turned to was Picco. They trusted him because of his evenhanded role as head...
Picco passed the word to Perez de Cuellar, who was eager to wrap up the hostage ordeal before his retirement at the end of this year. The U.N. team decided to work on two levels. Perez de Cuellar mounted a high-profile diplomatic campaign, repeatedly visiting Iran, Syria and Israel to obtain official backing for Picco's veiled bargaining. The U.N. chief also sought advice from Brent Scowcroft, George Bush's National Security Adviser, who traveled to New York City to meet secretly with Perez de Cuellar, sometimes without the knowledge of Thomas Pickering, the U.S. ambassador...
...month later, Perez de Cuellar went to Tehran to receive Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani's assurances that he would pressure the radicals to free their captives. At about the same time, Picco arrived in Lebanon to tell the kidnappers that Israel was willing to release Arab prisoners. In return, the Israelis demanded information on seven of their servicemen missing in Lebanon, one of whom is known to be alive...
Despite these encouraging developments, Picco feared that the process might unravel in the atmosphere of mutual suspicion. In late October, without clearing the move with Perez de Cuellar, Picco instructed the Beirut U.N. information office to announce that an American would be released within 24 hours. The announcement forced the kidnappers to honor their side of the agreement by delivering Jesse Turner to Syrian officials. Four weeks later, Waite and Thomas Sutherland were freed, setting the stage for the end of the hostage drama. In a key session on Nov. 30, Picco received a timetable for the release of Joseph...
...Picco's mission is incomplete. Securing the return of the two remaining German hostages and the Israeli soldier will be ticklish, in part because the abductors are afraid they will be liquidated by vengeful Western governments or abandoned by their former Iranian patrons. That fear could delay Perez de Cuellar's dream of bringing the entire hostage saga to a close -- and send Picco back into the Bekaa Valley...