Hezbollah Chief Calls for ‘Happy Ending’ on Hostages

The spiritual leader of the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah appealed Sunday for “a happy ending” to the plight of 18 foreign hostages in what was seen as an invitation for talks to resolve the issue with Washington and other Western powers.

Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah’s remarks came as hopes for the release of nine American and nine other foreign captives in Lebanon were buoyed by Iran’s sudden acceptance last week of U.N. terms for a cease-fire in the nearly eight-year-old Persian Gulf War.

Fadlallah’s apparent overture coincided with Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci expressing willingness by the United States to discuss the hostage issue with Iran.

“We call on all parties to resolve this matter objectively and bring it to a happy ending without media manipulations,” Fadlallah said.

“America has complicated it while it is merely a humanitarian cause. Their abduction is painful because this issue has humanitarian aspects. There must be an end to political complications.”

Extremist Umbrella Group

Hezbollah, or Party of God, is believed to be an umbrella group for extremist Shia Muslim factions holding most of the 18 foreigners, probably in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Syria has had 5,000 troops patrolling most of the area since May 27, but they have stayed away from the immediate area where the hostages are believed held, apparently to avoid a military confrontation that could imperil the captives.

“We are aware that the (hostage) problem has reached such a degree of complexity that its political aspect has become mixed up with its humanitarian aspect,” Fadlallah said. “We feel pain for the detention (of the hostages) because the issue has humanitarian aspects,” he told hundreds of Shias in a sermon marking the major Muslim feast of Eid al Adha.

“Some states with hostages in Lebanon exploited this affair for the interest of their control in the world. America has complicated it while it is merely a humanitarian cause,” the bearded leader said, adding that “the best time to achieve this could be just before the presidential elections in the U.S.”

His remarks were widely viewed as a call for negotiations to free the hostages.

‘Clear Invitation’

“The statement today by Fadlallah, who is Iran’s man in Lebanon, is a clear invitation to Washington and other Western capitals to open negotiations to close the hostages’ file,” said an Arab observer in West Beirut.

“We have expected Tehran, after its decision concerning the war with Iraq, would send signals to Washington concerning the captives, but not that soon,” said the observer, a scholar close to Iranian circles who requested anonymity.

Hopes to free the U.S. hostages were dashed in January, 1987, after the Church of England’s special envoy, Terry Waite, disappeared in Beirut while on a mission to negotiate their release. Waite’s mission coincided with leaks to the media of a fruitless deal between Washington and Tehran to trade arms for hostages.