Word: ransoms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Reagan was forced to rebut another startling disclosure by McFarlane, in this case an apparent contradiction of Reagan's oft-stated policy of refusing to pay ransom to terrorists. McFarlane claimed that in 1985 the President authorized a plan to pay $2 million provided by Texas Billionaire H. Ross Perot for the release of two American hostages in Beirut. "I don't recall anything ever being suggested in the line of ransom," Reagan said last week. But, he added, he may have discussed paying foreign agents who could help win the release of American captives. Said Reagan: "I've never...
...Some of the Iranian arms-sales profits may have been diverted to bribes for ! Iranian officials and outright ransom payments to Lebanese terrorists. The Washington Times published a copy of what it said was a letter written to Reagan late last year by Manucher Ghorbanifar, the Iranian expatriate who acted as a middleman in the deals. In it, Ghorbanifar supposedly said he had made "substantial payments" to Ayatullah Hussein Ali Montazeri, a high Iranian official. Expanding on the story, the New York Times quoted sources as estimating that Ghorbanifar paid around $10 million to various Iranians and a group that...
...surface, this looks like The Ransom of Red Chief in one more modern movie variation. A couple of emotional nomads pull off a kidnaping, then work like thumb-tied demons to return the booty. But even the surface of a Coen brothers picture looks unlike any other. These two young guys from Minneapolis -- Joel, 32, who directs and writes, and Ethan, 29, who writes and produces -- proved with their debut film, the gory melodrama Blood Simple, that they are shrewd filmmakers who can give a skewed spin to a hoary genre. Compared with their new effort, though, Blood Simple...
...elderly psychiatrist; Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall) is his aide-de-camp in blackmailing. As part of their scheme to defraud a wealthy ( woman, they hire an actress, Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen), to impersonate the woman's dead sister. Katie doesn't realize she is taping a video ransom note. Ever conscientious, she tells her sly captors, "I'm gonna take a beat after the line 'There was blood everywhere...
...expected to raise a total of nearly $1 million for the Democratic National Committee (D.N.C.) war chest before the winning city is picked. The victor will be encouraged to raise at least another $1 million when the convention takes place. City leaders ruefully refer to the donations as "ransom money...