The World - News from Dec. 16, 1986
The people holding hostages in Lebanon “are more bitter, furious and suspicious” than he expected, an Arab-American leader said after returning to New York from a failed attempt to win the captives’ freedom during a three-week trip. Mohammed Mehdi said the hostage-takers need a “little bit of give from the White House, such as if the United States would denounce Israeli terrorism against (Arab) students, as it would denounce Arab terrorism, so-called.” Mehdi, president of the American-Arab Relations Committee and secretary general of the National Council of Islamic Affairs, had hoped to win the freedom of at least one of the five U.S. hostages still held in Lebanon.
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