Glass Called Israeli Agent by Group Claiming His Abduction

A previously unknown group in Lebanon claimed Wednesday that it is holding kidnaped U.S. reporter Charles Glass and accused him of spying for Israel.

A statement signed by “The Organization for the Defense of Free People” said Glass would “stay with us for investigation until all the American and Zionist plots are revealed.”

The one-page, typed statement written in Arabic was the first claim made for the June 17 kidnaping of Glass, a former ABC television correspondent who was taking leave of absence to write a book on the Middle East.

It was left at the door of a Lebanese radio correspondent in Sidon, a port city south of Beirut, and was not accompanied by any proof of authenticity.

“America has not stopped sending its spies and agents on special missions including Charles Glass, who moved around according to a well-prepared plan drawn out for him to gather information for Israel,” the statement said.

Gunmen abducted Glass, 36, formerly of Los Angeles, in a Shia Muslim area in Beirut. He was seized with Ali Osseiran, son of Lebanon’s defense minister.

Osseiran and his police driver were freed June 24 and most reports of their release said they were freed near Sidon.

The statement said the group released Osseiran because it did not have “evidence he was involved with this spy.”

Hezbollah Implicated

Muslim militia sources said Glass is being held by the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah (Party of God), but the Shia Muslim group has denied any connection to the abduction.

Meanwhile, NBC News reported Wednesday that U.S. intelligence agents intercepted messages between the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon that provided “conclusive evidence that Iran ordered the kidnaping”of Glass.

“This time there is no question,” one Administration source told NBC, referring to the alleged Iranian role.

U.S. intelligence officials learned before Glass was seized that an American in Lebanon had been targeted for kidnaping, NBC said, but that the name of the intended victim was not included in the dispatches.

Later, “other intelligence” indicated the kidnap target was Glass, but U.S. officials were unable to contact him in time to warn him, NBC said.