Jihad Reports ‘Execution’ of U.S. Official

Islamic Jihad terrorists today announced the “execution” of U.S. Embassy official William Buckley, but President Reagan said the report could not be confirmed.

The respected An Nahar and As Safir newspapers printed a statement from the Muslim fundamentalist group saying Buckley would be killed after their statement was published.

The statement said the execution was ordered to avenge Israel’s air strike Tuesday on Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters in Tunisia.

Buckley, 57, a bachelor with few family ties, was abducted in West Beirut on March 16, 1984. If the Islamic Jihad claim is confirmed, he will be the first of six Americans still held hostage in Lebanon to be killed by his captors.

Held the Longest

A native of Medford, Mass., Buckley, the U.S. Embassy’s chief political officer, has been held the longest of the American captives in Lebanon.

Islamic Jihad did not specify where the body could be found, saying only that the killing was dedicated to “the families of Muslim and Tunisian martyrs” from the Tunis raid, in which Israel’s U.S.-made F-15 fighter jets killed at least 73 people.

“We warn the American and Israeli governments against carrying out any retaliation because they will pay dearly in Lebanon, Washington and the world,” the statement said. Israel bombed PLO headquarters Tuesday in revenge for the killing of three Israelis which it blamed on PLO guerrillas.

Reagan told reporters in Washington that the United States can not confirm the report of Buckley’s death. “No, there’s no way to confirm,” Reagan said. “Until we have something definite, we’re not going to comment.”

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said the mission also could not confirm the report.