Freed American Says Damascus Offers Only Sign of Hope for Now : Syrian Pressure May Be Key to Hostages, Glass Says

Freed American journalist Charles Glass said Wednesday that an increased Syrian effort to bring about the release of other hostages in Lebanon is the only sign of hope for them in the foreseeable future.

“I’m told by Syrian and American diplomats in Damascus that the political environment between the U.S. and the Syrians is improving, that Syria is much more active on the ground in Beirut in trying to obtain the release of hostages,” Glass told reporters after arriving here from Damascus, the Syrian capital.

“But there is no movement in the sense of a new development. The movement is in the sense that (diplomats) are confident that Syria is doing a lot on the ground in Beirut to try to find out where these people are and (to) try to resolve the problem on a case-by-case basis.”

Syrian Role Debated

Glass, who was abducted two months ago in Beirut and managed to escape Monday, said diplomats had informed him that the Syrians had “turned the place upside down” looking for him. But he maintained that his freedom resulted from his personal efforts rather than any Syrian pressure.

U.S. officials have suggested that Iran ordered Glass’ abduction and that Syria played a significant role in pressing Iran to have him freed.

Glass did not reject the possibility that Syria had worked for his release but reiterated his belief that he had escaped.

“I was told by diplomats in Damascus that things were moving toward a possible resolution, but I think I possibly jumped the gun,” he said.

He said he had plotted for weeks to escape and had written several pleas for help, including three written in his own blood. He said he left them in a lavatory hoping they would be found by someone sympathetic to his plight.

Glass is a former ABC News correspondent in the Middle East and London. He was kidnaped while researching a book, and his escape has refocused attention on the plight of 24 other foreigners, including eight Americans, who are being held hostage in Lebanon.

In Britain, where Glass lives with his wife, Fiona, and their five children, the development sparked optimism among friends and relatives of two British hostages. John Waite, a cousin of Terry Waite, a Church of England emissary who disappeared while working on behalf of the hostages, said Glass’ reappearance was “the best news on the hostage front for a very long time.”

Jill Morrell, a girlfriend of John McCarthy, a British TV cameraman abducted in April, 1986, also expressed optimism.

“If Charlie (Glass) can get out, then others can too,” she said.

Nevertheless, Glass was apparently able to provide little new information regarding the whereabouts or physical condition of any of the other hostages. At an airport news conference, he said he had not seen or heard of any other hostage during his 62 days in captivity.

“I never saw a human face during the entire period,” he said.

He asked about other hostages, he said, but got no response from his captors.

U.S. Hostage Team

After a private reunion with his family, Glass met with a State Department team from Washington assigned to debrief former hostages. The team, led by Michael Newlin, the deputy assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, was established to debrief hostages as quickly as possible after their release. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the team hoped to get a better understanding of hostage conditions.

Glass is now expected to retreat for a period of privacy with his family, including relatives who arrived Wednesday from California.

He said he believes he was the only hostage held by a group of Shia Muslim Lebanese. He said he assumed they were associated with Hezbollah, a radical group with strong ties to Iran.

Glass, who speaks some Arabic, said the only political talk he heard from his captors dealt with domestic Lebanese problems.

Western analysts have indicated that Syria’s increased effort on behalf of the hostages stems partly from its desire to counter a negative international image generated last fall when Syria was linked to terrorist activities in Europe and partly from growing strains in Syria’s relations with Iran.

The abduction of Glass, within yards of a Syrian army checkpoint in West Beirut, embarrassed the Syrians, and, in many ways, his release was a matter of honor for them.

Glass said that after his escape, he asked to return to Britain directly from Beirut, but he said that Syrian authorities insisted that he “give them the honor” of first traveling to Damascus to be photographed with senior officials there.

Glass also said his experience as a hostage has led him to change his mind about network transmission of videotaped hostage statements. He said a videotape of a statement he made was made with a revolver pointed at his head and that he read from a script that had been prepared for him. In it he said he had been working with the CIA.

“The only interest we’re serving in passing out one of these tapes is that of the captors, not the captive,” he said.

Glass, a Roman Catholic, said he spent much of his time in captivity either praying or plotting escape.

“I’m not a ‘born-again’ Christian, but I found great solace in prayer,” he said. “It sounds very strange, and I’m thankful to God it’s over, but I found it personally, spiritually rewarding. It got me much closer to God.”