Word: jihadization
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...after the months of few developments, events moved quickly last week. Waite showed up unexpectedly in Beirut on Friday for his first visit in ten months. He clearly hoped to improve on his record of one release at a time. Islamic Jihad seemed to indicate that diplomatic activity was afoot that could achieve such a goal. Although State Department officials insisted that no deal was in the works, the terrorist group said in a statement following Jacobsen's release that the U.S. had embarked on "approaches that could lead, if continued, to a solution of the hostages issue...
...three previous visits, Waite arrived in Beirut at the invitation of Islamic Jihad. He flew out of London Thursday evening, picked up a Lear jet in Frankfurt and continued on to Cyprus, arriving just after midnight. An American helicopter then transported him to Beirut. His use of U.S. facilities for his flights was not surprising, even though officials traveling with President Reagan said they had no direct involvement in his initiative. They pointed out that U.S. helicopters fly frequently between Beirut and Larnaca, where many U.S. embassy personnel have been evacuated for security reasons. Waite had ample reason, moreover...
...hostages, like 13 other foreigners held by various extremist groups, were captured randomly in the chaotic city, and have served as unhappy pawns in the larger game of Middle East politics. Besides Jacobsen and Sutherland, American University's acting dean of agriculture, the Islamic Jihad had also captured Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press. The same terrorist group also took William Buckley, political officer of the U.S. embassy, and claims to have killed him, though no body has ever been found. As a price for freeing its captives, Islamic Jihad has demanded the release...
Kuwait has flatly refused to cooperate in any such trade, and last December denied Waite's application for a visa. Washington has declined to bring pressure on the Kuwaitis to reconsider. Evidently as part of an effort to push the Reagan Administration to force a swap, Islamic Jihad over the past 13 months has released two of its American prisoners, Father Jenco, and the Rev. Benjamin Weir, a Presbyterian missionary. Both had been held captive for more than a year. Waite had a hand in the two releases, though he has never spelled out his exact role...
...this fall. They are Joseph Cicippio, American University's comptroller; Frank Reed, director of a private elementary school in Beirut; and Edward Tracy, a writer. Their claimed abductors, the Revolutionary Justice Organization and Arab Revolutionary Cells-Omar Moukhtar Forces, are if anything more mysterious and less known than Islamic Jihad...