Wives of Israelis Held by Syria Are Planning Publicity Effort in U.S. to Gain Release

The wives of the two Israeli aerial hijack victims who have been held captive in Syria since Aug. 29 will fly to the United States tomorrow for an intensive publicity effort aimed at securing their release. Mrs. Noemi Samueloff and Mrs. Tilda Muallem meanwhile disclosed that United Nations General Assembly President Angie Brooks, of Liberia, has personally appealed to Syrian president Nureddin el-Atassi to release the prisoners. Miss Brooks acted in response to an appeal by the Samueloff and Muallem families on Oct. 6 to intervene.

Prof. Shlomo Samueloff, a faculty member at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, and Sallah Muallem, a Tel Aviv travel agency employee, were passengers aboard a TWA airliner that was hijacked by Arab commandos and forced to fly to Damascus six weeks ago. The two prisoners were visited by a representative of the International Red Cross a week ago who reported them in good health and good spirits.

(It was reported in Washington today that the two women would be met on their arrival by Shaul Ben Haim, press attache of the Israel Embassy. They will fly immediately to New Orleans to appear before the Hadassah convention. The next day they will fly to Washington where meetings are being arranged with members of Congress and possibly the State Department. Israel Embassy sources said there were no plans at this time for Mrs. Samueloff and Mrs. Muallem to meet anyone at the White House.

After a brief stay in Washington, the two wives will go to UN headquarters in New York where attempts are being made to set up a meeting with Miss Brooks and with the officials of TWA. It was not known whether they will try to see Secretary General U Thant.)

(The two Arab commandos who hijacked an Israel-bound TWA airliner to Damascus last Aug. 29 have been released by Syrian authorities according to a report by an Arab guerrilla organization in Amman, Jordan. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed that Leila Khaled, and her partner, Selim Al-Eisawa, were set free at midnight and have returned to their commando bases.)