U.S. May Offer Cash to Capture Shia Hijackers

The Reagan Administration is considering offering huge cash rewards--perhaps as much as $5 million--for the apprehension of the Shia Muslim militants who hijacked TWA Flight 847 and beat and shot to death Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, The Times has learned.

The State Department announced Tuesday that it will formally call on the government of Lebanon to extradite the hijackers under terms of an air piracy treaty that Lebanon has signed. If that fails, sources said, the Administration is laying the groundwork for possible efforts to kidnap the hijackers and bring them to justice outside Lebanon.

‘Basis for Further Efforts’

State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb, in an extraordinarily frank threat that the United States may attempt to seize the hijackers on its own, said, “Should our diplomatic efforts fail, we at least have laid a basis for further, unilateral efforts in appropriate circumstances.”

Beyond steps aimed at the hijackers, additional retaliatory steps continue to be discussed among senior officials of the State Department, the Defense Department and the CIA, sources said.

Possible military strikes at terrorist training camps have been examined--including at least one site in Libya--they said, as well as attacks on the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which is thought to be the administrative center of the Hezbollah extremists believed to be behind the hijacking. Those barracks have also housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards who collaborate with Hezbollah.

There is widespread feeling among top Administration leaders that “something must be done,” as one knowledgeable official said, to show that the United States can respond to criminal hijackings.

“We have to say to these people (hijackers) that there’s a cost to this kind of behavior,” a senior State Department official said. “But if you do that and if nothing happens, there’s no price.”

In welcoming back 30 of the former hostages Tuesday afternoon, Reagan said that “there is no forgetting” the brutal beating and cold-blooded killing of Stethem. “His murderers must be brought to justice.”

Reagan’s remarks reflected his Administration’s drive since the TWA hijacking to portray possible U.S. action against the terrorists as punishment of individual criminals rather than as broad retaliation or retribution.

Congressional OK

Congress last year authorized the secretary of state to pay rewards of up to $500,000 each to individuals furnishing information leading to the arrest or conviction of any person for committing, conspiring or attempting to commit an act of terrorism overseas. A total of $5 million was authorized for such purposes.

“That kind of money buys a lot of information in Beirut,” one U.S. official said.

The anti-terrorist laws also authorized the secretary of state to protect the identities of individuals receiving rewards and their families.

TWA Flight 847 was hijacked June 14 by two Muslim terrorists. A third comrade who failed to get on the Athens-to-Rome flight was arrested by Greek police but was later freed in return for the release of Greek hostages aboard the plane. The United States wants to apprehend all three.

Dealing With Berri

In seeking to extradite the hijackers, the Administration will ironically find itself again dealing with Nabih Berri, who as leader of the Amal militia represented the hijackers in negotiations for release of the hostages. Berri is Lebanon’s Minister of Justice and thus is responsible for handling extradition requests.

The State Department appeared to acknowledge Tuesday that prospects are poor that Berri will now arrest the three Shia militants and turn them over to the United States.

U.S. intelligence agencies have confirmed the identities of the three hijackers and believe their location in West Beirut is generally known, well-informed sources told The Times Monday. Although the hijackers are unlikely to be turned over by Lebanon, they said, the formality of seeking their extradition will permit their arrest by third nations if they are found outside Lebanon.

Failing that, they said, the legal move prepares the groundwork for a U.S. team one day to seize the men in Lebanon--”do an Eichmann,” said one source, referring to Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who two decades ago was kidnaped by Israeli agents in Argentina and later tried in Israel and executed there.

Proposed Ticket Ban

The Department of Transportation, meanwhile, proposed to ban all ticket sales in the United States for flights to Lebanon, saying that “the security of aircraft transiting that country and the safety of passengers on board such aircraft remain in jeopardy.”

The proposed ban, which will be subject to public comment until July 5, would prohibit the sale of any ticket in the United States which has Lebanon on the itinerary, even if the flight only stops in Lebanon and even if it originates outside this country.

In addition, the department revoked the temporary authority of the Lebanese air carrier, Middle East Airlines, to serve the United States. The Lebanese carrier flies between Lebanon and New York with intermediate stops in Paris and London. The department said it is revoking the airline’s authority because its operations “currently pose an unacceptable risk to the U.S. public.”

Middle East Airlines will still be allowed to lease aircraft and crews to EgyptAir. The EgyptAir aircraft is used for its Cairo-New York service and it is authorized to carry Athens-New York charter passengers booked by U.S public charter operator Homeric Tours.