Amal Denies Report It Holds 4 U.S. Hostages, Plans to Free Them

The pro-Syrian Amal militia Tuesday denied reports that it has control of four foreign professors--three Americans and an Indian-born U.S. resident--kidnaped in Lebanon last year and is ready to release them.

In a report from Beirut, The Times of London said that the four are believed to be in the hands of Amal in the Borj el Brajne district in southern Beirut, which is under Syrian control, and that the pro-Syrian militia appears ready to free them.

“We deny that Amal holds any hostage, especially the four professors” from the Beirut University College, an Amal spokesman said. He said the hostages are being held by the rival Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian Shia Muslim militia.

The Beirut newspaper As Safir also reported that the four captives might be freed within days.

The three Americans are Robert Polhill, 54, an assistant professor of business studies, Alann Steen, 48, a journalism professor, and Jesse Turner, 40, an assistant professor of mathematics and computer sciences. Also abducted was Mithileshwar Singh, 60, an Indian-born U.S. resident and professor of business and finance and chairman of the business department.

The four were abducted from the Beirut University College campus in West Beirut on Jan. 24, 1987. A group calling itself Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the kidnapings.

The four are among 18 foreign hostages, including nine Americans, kidnaped and believed held in the southern suburbs where Amal and Hezbollah engaged in three weeks of heavy fighting for control of the 14-square-mile area.