U.S. Seems to Stall Release, Hostage Says

Terry A. Anderson, who has been held longer than any other American hostage in Lebanon, complained in a videotape made public Monday that the Reagan Administration has appeared to be impeding his release.

“I have been very close to being released several times over the past three years, but each time it seems that the U.S. government uses its influence to stop any agreement, and I don’t understand this,” Anderson said on the tape.

“I heard on the radio of the generous and ambitious efforts to free three trapped whales a few days ago and the President’s thanks to the Soviet Union for its help. It is a warming story. That kind of cooperation and spirit is absolutely necessary to bring this situation to an end.”

The tape was delivered to Western news agencies in West Beirut, apparently in response to references in the Lebanese press to Anderson’s 41st birthday last week. Anderson’s 3-year-old daughter, Sulome, appeared on television in Beirut last week singing “Happy Birthday” to the father she’s never seen.

Reagan Refutes Charge

President Reagan said in Los Angeles that it is “absolutely not true” that his Administration has interfered with efforts to free the hostages.

Reagan said that in the past, hostages have been forced to read messages that “did not represent their thinking.” He said the “barbarians” who are holding Anderson are “telling him what to do.”

Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent of the Associated Press, was abducted by Muslim extremists in Beirut on March 16, 1985. His captors have identified themselves as members of the group known as Islamic Jihad, or Islamic Holy War, which has demanded the release of prisoners in Kuwait and Israel as a condition for the release of Anderson and other hostages.

The appearance of the videotape, which Anderson said was made Sunday, tended to dispel fears for his safety that arose last week when Islamic Jihad threatened to retaliate against the hostages for an Israeli air raid in the Syrian-held Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon.

“I am well and being well-treated,” Anderson said.

“I am not asking Reagan to deal with terrorists, although Mr. (Vice President George) Bush did so in the Iran-Contra affair and TWA hijacking,” Anderson said in the latest message.

Two years ago, it was disclosed that White House officials had arranged to sell weapons to the Iranian government and use the money to aid the Contras, rebels fighting the government in Nicaragua. The hijacking of a TWA flight en route from Athens to Rome in June, 1985, resulted in 39 Americans being held hostage for more than two weeks.

In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Bush repeated his denial that he was involved in negotiations on the TWA hijacking. He was not asked about the Iran-Contra affair, but he has previously denied any involvement.

Anderson said, “Our problem could have been solved a long time ago without such complications as arms deals.”

In his response Monday, Reagan said “there was no” Iran-Contra scandal. He said it was “artificially created by a media that I cannot understand.” He said he was “still asking, after 10 months of a congressional investigation. . . . I still don’t know who delivered the weapons and where the money came from.”

He said his government will continue its efforts on behalf of the hostages “until we get them back.”

Wallace reported from Nicosia and May from Los Angeles.