Lebanon Captors Free American : Jacobsen Released After 17-Month Ordeal; Hopes Raised for Others

An American held hostage in Lebanon for 17 months by Muslim extremists was released Sunday in West Beirut, and hopes were raised that more American captives will be released in the next few days.

David P. Jacobsen, 55, who is from Huntington Beach, Calif., was dropped off on the seafront corniche in the Muslim half of the Lebanese capital at 7 a.m. near the former U.S. Embassy complex.

Jacobsen, who was the administrator of the hospital at the American University of Beirut when he was kidnaped in May, 1985, was picked up by U.S. Embassy personnel and taken in a convoy of U.S. government cars across the no man’s land between West Beirut and the capital’s Christian eastern sector. He first was taken to the U.S. ambassador’s residence and hours later to the U.S. Embassy, according to news agency reports from Lebanon.

‘David Is Well’

Terry Waite, an envoy of the Anglican Church who has worked for more than a year for the release of Western hostages in Lebanon, flew from Larnaca, Cyprus, to East Beirut aboard a U.S. Navy helicopter and met with Jacobsen. “David is well,” Waite told reporters by telephone. “He and I had a conversation together for some hours. He is looking forward to seeing his family and friends.”

Waite, the personal envoy of Robert A. K. Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury, added, “I hope, with the support of our friends, we should be able to release the remaining hostages.”

In Santa Barbara, Calif., White House officials confirmed Jacobsen’s release. Presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said the freed American would be flown to the U.S. Air Force Hospital in Wiesbaden, West Germany, for an extensive medical examination.

Jacobsen arrived with Waite in Cyprus early today aboard a U.S. Navy helicopter en route to Wiesbaden.

Lengthy Effort Reported

Speakes said Reagan appreciated the mediation by Waite, who gave the first word Friday of possible progress in obtaining the release of the hostages. The effort that finally led to Jacobsen’s release has “been going on for a period of time,” Speakes added.

“We will make arrangements to reunite the family,” Speakes continued, “and they will be with him during this very trying period of transition from isolation to freedom.”

Waite turned up in Beirut on Friday and hinted at progress in the negotiations to free the Americans held hostage by Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War), a Shia Muslim terrorist group believed to hold at least two other Americans and several Frenchmen. Three more Americans are thought to be in the hands of other Lebanese Muslim extremists.

In a message distributed in Beirut, Islamic Jihad said the Reagan Administration has made undisclosed gestures that could lead to the release of the group’s other two American hostages--Terry A. Anderson, 39, chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, and Thomas Sutherland, 55, the dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.

“We hold the U.S. government fully responsible for the consequences of any failure to take advantage of this opportunity,” the Islamic Jihad statement said, adding that the U.S. government has made “approaches that could lead, if continued, to a solution of the hostages issue.”

The statement warned that the Americans’ captors would take a “totally different attitude” if the approaches were not continued. There was no indication what form the “approaches” had taken or where they were made.

Guards at the former U.S. Embassy in West Beirut--where only security personnel have been stationed since the facility was bombed in April, 1983, by terrorists--told journalists Sunday that Jacobsen had arrived there on foot from the Mediterranean Hotel, about half a mile away.

Healthy, Clean-Shaven

He was clean-shaven, appeared to be healthy despite his 17 months in captivity and was wearing a white shirt and brown trousers, the guards said. He ate an apple and drank two cups of tea while waiting for U.S. Embassy officials to arrive.

Jacobsen related that his first hint of his impending freedom came a week ago when a barber gave him a haircut and shaved off his beard.

There were unconfirmed reports from various sources that further hostage releases might be in the offing. Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed Lebanese official as saying, “We have information that two more U.S. hostages will be released by the middle of next week, but we don’t have names.”

In Frankfurt, West Germany, a U.S. Air Force spokesman said American specialists have arrived there to assist with Jacobsen’s return to the United States, Reuters reported.

Team of Experts Arrives

The team of experts, known as an Inter-Agency Crisis Response Team, was headed by Ambassador Michael Newlin, the spokesman said.

U.S. officials remained silent on the events that led to Jacobsen’s release, fueling speculation that a comprehensive deal for the remainder of the hostages is being negotiated by Waite.

The Reagan Administration has maintained that it would never negotiate with the kidnapers, but Jacobsen’s release was a strong indication that contacts of some kind have been taking place.

Stung by Accusations

Jacobsen and Anderson issued a videotaped message last month that accused Reagan of forgetting them at a time when he was negotiating with the Soviet Union for the release of imprisoned American journalist Nicholas Daniloff. Speaking to a press conference later, Reagan was clearly stung by the accusations.

The Islamic Jihad kidnapers are believed to include relatives of some of the 17 prisoners, most of them Lebanese, being held by Kuwait for car bomb attacks in December, 1983, at the U.S. and French embassies in that country. The kidnapers have demanded that Kuwait release the 17 prisoners, but so far the Persian Gulf state has resolutely refused.

After arriving in Beirut on Friday, Waite shuttled secretly between Beirut and the island of Cyprus, where he met with U.S. officials.

There was early speculation that Syria had brought pressure to bear on the kidnapers in an effort to repair its tattered international image after Britain’s decision to break relations with President Hafez Assad’s regime over allegations that Syrian Embassy officials in London had a hand in a plot to blow up an Israeli airliner last April. However, comments in Washington on Sunday by White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan suggested that Syria played little if any role in Jacobsen’s release.

Ambassadors Recalled

The United States and Canada called home their ambassadors in support of Britain’s action, and foreign ministers of the European Communities are meeting a week from today to decide what action, if any, to take against Damascus.

Syrian officials reached in Damascus appeared slightly irked that the release had taken place in Beirut. Past hostage releases, in which Syria often played a pivotal role, were often accompanied by favorable publicity for Assad’s government.

Iran’s foreign minister visited Damascus on Saturday, apparently while Waite was visiting the Syrian capital. The Iranians are believed to have close links with the Islamic Jihad group, and Syria could have been seeking Iranian intercession on behalf of the hostages.

Even if the other two Americans held by Islamic Jihad are freed, that would leave three more Americans who have been seized in Beirut by various groups in recent weeks.

Frank Herbert Reed, 53, the director of a private school, was kidnaped Sept. 9. A statement from a group calling itself the Arab Revolutionary Cells-Omar Moukhtar Forces claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Joseph J. Cicippio, 56, the acting controller of the American University, was kidnaped on campus Sept. 12 as he left his residence. A group calling itself the Revolutionary Justice Organization claimed responsibility.

On Oct. 21, the same group said it had kidnaped another American, Edward A. Tracy, a writer and salesman of religious books.

All three men had converted to Islam. Their captors accused them of being spies for the United States.

Another American hostage, U.S. Embassy employee William Buckley, was reportedly killed by Islamic Jihad, but his body has never been recovered.