4 Hostages’ Relatives See Bush, Criticize U.S. Tactics

After a one-hour meeting Friday with Vice President George Bush, family members of four Americans held hostage in Lebanon criticized the way they have been treated by the Reagan Administration and expressed concern over the President’s refusal to consider the terrorists’ demands.

At a news conference on the White House grounds, some family members said they were insulted that President Reagan himself had not met with them. Others were irritated that Bush and other high-ranking officials refused to tell them about any specific efforts being made to free their loved ones and two other Americans believed to still be held captive in Lebanon.

“I’m not a fool--I don’t have to be treated like an idiot,” said Peggy Say, whose brother, Terry A. Anderson, has been held hostage in Lebanon for 16 months. “It would have been nice for the President to have met with us. . . . They told us they are doing everything they could to release the hostages but wouldn’t tell us anything specific at all.”

‘Strong Frustrations’

Eric Jacobsen, whose father, David, a Huntington Beach, Calif., resident, has been held hostage since May, added that the group told Bush of its “very strong frustrations that we have felt so far in our dealings with the State Department.”

He added: “We’ve been kept in the dark. We made a valid point that this has to change.”

Like the others, Jacobsen criticized the Administration’s refusal to exert pressure on the government of Kuwait to release 17 imprisoned terrorists in exchange for the Americans, as demanded by their captors, members of a fundamentalist Muslim group that calls itself Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War).

“I’m disappointed. They will absolutely not consider giving in to the terrorists,” Jacobsen said.

Family members--accompanied by the Rev. Benjamin Weir, himself freed by Islamic Jihad last week--said before the meeting with Bush that they were hopeful that the vice president could give them a sign that progress toward freeing the remaining hostages is being made.

Afterward, however, they said the only hopeful note was Bush’s pledge that the Administration is willing to talk to the captors.

Andy Mihelich, a nephew of Father Lawrence Jenco, who has been held hostage for 21 months, said: “This (willingness to talk) is a change from what they had been saying, we think. We hope so, at least.”

A spokesman for the vice president, who asked not to be identified, said Bush told family members that the Administration “is willing to meet with any responsible officials to secure the release. . . . We’re going to pursue all channels that could lead to the release of the hostages.”

However, the spokesman said Bush reiterated that “we cannot make concessions. None were made in the case of Dr. Weir” or the 39 Americans held hostage in Beirut last June after the hijacking of a TWA jetliner.

On Thursday, State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said that, while the United States will not bargain with the Lebanese kidnapers, “we, of course, are always willing to discuss the safety of American citizens.”

Asked if the vice president’s remarks represent a departure from that policy, another Administration official replied, “I think the vice president maybe did go a little bit further than we have gone before in public statements.”

‘A Very Real Thing’

As she left the White House grounds, Jane Sutherland, wife of hostage Thomas Sutherland, said she felt mixed emotions about her whirlwind, three-day trip to Washington. The threat by Lebanese captors to execute some or all of the American hostages was “a very real thing . . . and it means that some solution has to be found soon,” she said.

This week, one Administration official said that, although the United States is not in direct contact with the kidnapers, the government is pursuing “five avenues” in its efforts to gain the hostages’ release.

The official would not describe these channels but said they involved intermediaries “who have some influence on the captors . . . third parties in a position to influence them.”

Family members were frustrated that Bush and other officials would not tell them more.

Peggy Say declared that it was “an insult to myself and to the other hostage families,” and she added, “I find it hard to believe that if they were doing everything they said is possible, that after 1 1/2 years, the President and vice president have come up empty.”