Word: swapping
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...rapid movement provoked by Israel's kidnaping of Shi'ite Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid has given way to a lengthy process of public posturing and private dickering. Israel offered the Shi'ites a simple swap: your guys (Obeid and 150 Shi'ite prisoners) for our guys (three captured Israeli soldiers), plus the 15 Westerners held hostage. But Jerusalem's agenda is not interchangeable with Washington's: while Israel would probably jump at a deal returning its prisoners, even without the foreign hostages, it would reject any that did not bring home its three soldiers...
...Israeli Cabinet approved the mission by a vote of 11 to 1 in June, after an earlier kidnaping failed to impress Mustafa Dirani, the man believed to be holding one of the soldiers. Last December, Israeli commandos seized Jawad Kasafi, a Dirani associate. But when Jerusalem offered a swap, Hizballah declined even to reply. Israel concluded it needed a bigger fish, and Obeid was selected...
...Israel sought Washington's approval for Rabin's idea, Bush gave thinly veiled encouragement. On Monday, before the announcement of Higgins' killing, Secretary of State James Baker instructed the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, William Brown, to pass on the message that the U.S. would not "object" to the proposed swap. Though it was a pale green light at best, the Israelis recognized it as a sufficient O.K. But by the time the Israelis announced their offer, videotapes of Higgins' hanging body were already being distributed by Hizballah...
...surprising that North believed he had the authorization to conduct the arms-for-hostages swap. When the Marine walked into the office to let the president know what he was doing, the blindly obedient North must have mistaken Bush for Reagan...
...ample military reasons for wanting Obeid out of action, claiming he has instigated dozens of attacks against Israel and the so-called security zone it maintains in Lebanon. But kidnaping is not the usual method of the Israelis. They may actually have wanted to acquire bait for a hostage swap. Two affiliate groups of Hizballah are believed to be holding three Israeli prisoners of war captured in 1986, two of them soldiers taken in the security zone and the third an air force navigator. Americans wonder if U.S. Lieut. Colonel William Higgins, head of the United Nations peacekeeping force...