Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Israel would do its utmost to secure the release “alive and well” of an Israel Air Force flyer held prisoner in Lebanon. But he refused to comment to reporters on a proposal said to have been made by Nebih Berri, leader of the Shiite Amal militia, to include the flyer in a swap for 400 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and by the Israel-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA).
Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told reporters Monday that Israel would not yield to the demands of a terrorist group for the release of the 400 prisoners in exchange for the lives of four hostages — three Americans and an Indian national — Kidnapped in west Beirut on January 24.
A group calling itself the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) for the Liberation of Palestine has threatened to kill the hostages in 24 hours unless Israel complied. “Nobody has approached Israel and Israel will not take any initiative on that issue. If anyone has an offer to make, let him approach Israel in an orderly manner,” Peres said, adding that Israel does not accept ultimatums.
SEVERE POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS
The reported offer by Berri to exchange the flyer, an Israel Air Force navigator captured by Amal after his plane was shot down over Lebanon last October, raised speculation here and abroad that a deal could be made whereby the hostages and the flyer would be released for the jailed Palestinians without Israel or the U.S. seeming to surrender to terrorist demands.
But the release of 400 convicted Palestinians would certainly have severe political repercussions in Israel. The exchange of 1,150 Palestinian and Shiite prisoners, many convicted terrorists, for three Israeli soldiers in 1985, raised a public outcry .The government has all but acknowledged it was a mistake and indicated it would not be repeated. Israeli officials insist there has been no pressure whatever from the U.S. for Israel to deal with the kidnappers of the Americans, all faculty members of the University College in Moslem west Beirut.
But Davar reported from Washington Monday that secret negotiations have been underway for the past few days between the U.S. and “countries in the Mideast” in an effort to free the hostages.
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