Kidnapers Threaten to Kill 2 Hostages if U.S. Raids Lebanon : Waite ‘Arrested,’ Not Abducted, Official Reports

Pro-Iranian kidnapers said today they will kill Americans Terry Anderson and Thomas Sutherland, who have been hostages since 1985, if the United States makes a military attack on Lebanon.

Lebanon’s justice minister, meanwhile, said kidnapers have “arrested” Terry Waite. The Church of England envoy left his Beirut hotel Jan. 20 to negotiate for the freedom of the two Americans and other foreign captives in Lebanon.

Another group made a death threat last week against three American teachers and an Indian faculty member taken from Beirut University College on June 24. Those abductors have said since that they will kill the four men unless Israel releases 400 prisoners by midnight Saturday.

Israel Rejects Demand

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin rejected the demand out of hand, saying Israel will not be an “international bank” for terrorists.

The official press of Syria has accused the United States of planning a military attack on Lebanon after 11 foreigners were kidnaped in 12 days. U.S. naval forces in the Mediterranean have been strengthened.

A typewritten statement in Arabic delivered to the office of a Western news agency today made the death threat against Anderson and Sutherland in the name of the Shia Muslim group Islamic Jihad. Accompanying it was a photograph of Anderson, 39, chief Middle East correspondent of the Associated Press.

‘Shall Have No Mercy’

“Any military attempt against the Muslims in the region, particularly in Lebanon, will result in the death of the captives and America’s interests in the region,” the statement said. “Our answer will be cruel. We shall have no mercy.”

The black-and-white photograph showed Anderson with a mustache, wearing a dark striped shirt. He was looking at the camera and was not wearing his glasses.

Islamic Jihad generally accompanies its statements with a photo of a captive as evidence of authenticity.

Islamic Jihad also claims to hold at least three Frenchmen, but today’s statement did not mention them or France.

It said the United States, “the great Satan,” was planning “satanic actions” against Lebanon.

The group has freed three Americans in 16 months: the Rev. Benjamin Weir, Father Martin Lawrence Jenco and David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital.

‘Arrested, Not Kidnaped’

Its statement did not mention Waite, the personal envoy of Archbishop of Canterbury Robert A. K. Runcie.

Justice Minister Nabih Berri, who also leads the Shia Muslim militia Amal, told journalists in Damascus, Syria, that Waite had been “arrested, but not kidnaped.” He did not explain.

However, Berri added, “We warn the United States that any attack will mean the fastest way to have anyone, everyone, killed. The situation is serious.”