Word: hizballah
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...contours of the deal seemed clear, the mechanics posed nettlesome questions. Among the most vexing was a condition contained in the letter former British hostage John McCarthy brought to Perez de Cuellar from Islamic Jihad, a fundamentalist Shi'ite faction, operating under the banner of the pro-Iranian Hizballah, that holds several Westerners. It called for "the release of our freedom fighters from prisons in occupied Palestine and Europe." To whom that referred was anybody's guess -- and for whom Islamic Jihad presumed to speak was no more apparent. Was this a bargaining point or an implacable demand...
...pace of liberation quickened on Saturday, when another Hizballah faction called the Revolutionary Justice Organization issued a communique stating that one American hostage would be set free within 72 hours. The message was accompanied by a photograph of Joseph Cicippio, the comptroller of American University of Beirut, who was abducted on Sept. 12, 1986. On Sunday, however, the group released a different hostage, Edward Austin Tracy, 60, a writer from Burlington, Vt., who was snatched one month after Cicippio. Tracy, who had spent 1,757 days in captivity, was driven immediately to Damascus to be turned over to U.S. authorities...
Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, meanwhile, had his own reasons for promoting the release of Western hostages. The pragmatic Rafsanjani regards the hostages as relics of an era no longer relevant to his country's problems. Iran, which wields much more influence than Hizballah, desperately needs Western credits, trade and technology to rebuild after its devastating eight-year war with Iraq, which ended in 1988. Rafsanjani, who knows improved relations with the West hinge on the happy resolution of the hostage drama, undoubtedly ordered or at least pressed for the release of McCarthy and Tracy. He may also have...
...signals from Israel are clear: a deal can be worked out. With Hizballah no longer demanding the release of Palestinians jailed for their intifadeh activities, Israel is willing, even eager, to comply with demands for the release of the 375 Shi'ites and other prisoners. The sticking point is seven Israeli prisoners, captured over the years in Lebanon, who Israel insists must be released as part of the bargain. It is not known, however, how many of the seven are dead. Last week Hizballah announced that at least one, Ron Arad, is alive. Israel is demanding a strict accounting...
There is at least one other wild card: the future of the Lebanese brothers Mohammed and Abbas Hammadi. The two members of a prominent Shi'ite family associated with Hizballah are imprisoned in Germany -- Mohammed for his part in the 1985 TWA hijacking, Abbas for the abduction of two German businessmen. Some Lebanese and Syrian officials believe that Leyraud's seizure was an attempt by a third Hammadi to secure the release of his brothers. Western intelligence officials say the Hammadi family has warned the leadership of Hizballah that it will release none of its hostages until the Hammadi brothers...