Abductions Won’t Push U.S. Out of Lebanon : State Department Reacts to Islamic Jihad Claim That It Kidnaped Priest Heading Relief Agency

The State Department, reacting to demands from a shadowy Arab organization that says it is holding four kidnaped Americans in Beirut, declared Friday that the United States will not permit itself to be driven out of Lebanon.

An anonymous caller who said he represents the group, Islamic Jihad, told Western news agencies in Beirut that the organization had seized a U.S. priest, Father Lawrence Jenco, earlier this544695653claimed to have kidnaped three other Americans, and it has also taken responsibility for major blasts at American diplomatic and military installations in Lebanon and Kuwait.

“Following the promise we made to the world that no American will remain in Lebanon, and in the wake of the warning we addressed to American nationals to leave Beirut, our reply to failure to consider the matter seriously was to kidnap Mr. Jenco,” the caller said.

State Department spokesman Alan Romberg said that Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War) has long stated its objective of trying “to force the United States out of Lebanon.” But “the United States is not going to be forced out of Lebanon,” Romberg vowed.

Heads Relief Agency Jenco, 50, Beirut chief of Catholic Relief Services, a major New York-based charity that works worldwide to alleviate hunger and disease, was kidnaped in Muslim West Beirut on Tuesday. Islamic Jihad claimed last May to be holding three other kidnaped Americans--Jeremy Levin, Beirut bureau chief of Cable News Network; U.S. diplomat William Buckley, and the Rev. Benjamin Weir, a Presbyterian minister.

The United States is seeking the release of the Americans through Lebanese intermediaries, Romberg said. He would not name the go-betweens, although they almost certainly include the leaders of several of the competing militias operating in the Lebanese capital.

“We take this issue very seriously in terms of efforts to get these Americans free,” Romberg said. “We are in touch with a variety of parties who might help. We don’t believe, from our point of view, that talking about it would be helpful.”

Amal, the Shia Muslim militia led by Lebanese Cabinet member Nabih Berri, has succeeded in freeing other kidnaping victims. But the Islamic Jihad caller pointedly warned Berri “that he will be held responsible for any intervention to set free any American we have in custody, because we are the strongest and will remain so.”

Meanwhile, there were rumors in Beirut that the U.S. government had turned down a proposed deal for the freedom of Levin, Buckley and Weir and that the kidnapers seized Jenco as an additional bargaining chip. These rumors said the kidnapers supplied U.S. representatives with recent photographs of the victims to prove that they are still alive, but did not specify the price they demand.

The State Department refused to comment on the reports, although one official said: “We have reason to believe they are alive.” Asked if this was based on physical evidence such as a photograph or on testimony from people who have information about the case, the official replied: “Both.”

However, the official said the United States “has no reason to believe” that the kidnapers detained Jenco to enhance their bargaining position.

A fifth American, Peter Kilburn, a library employee at the American University of Beirut, is also missing, but Islamic Jihad has not claimed responsibility for his kidnaping. The U.S. government believes that Kilburn’s case is separate from the others.

During the last two years, anonymous callers claiming to represent Islamic Jihad have claimed responsibility for acts of terrorism in Beirut that include the truck bombings of two U.S. Embassy buildings and a Marine Corps headquarters--all with heavy loss of life. However, no one knows for sure what the organization represents or who its members are. At various times, it has been linked to Iran, Syria and Libya, but this, too, has never been verified.