In Pursuit, IRS May Find This Delinquent Captivating

Virginia Steen can’t wait to show her husband, Alann, a Beirut University College professor, the letter the Internal Revenue Service recently sent. In it, the IRS warns that Alann faces prosecution within 30 days if he does not settle his 1984 taxes. Unfortunately, Alann, 49, hasn’t had a chance to read the letter, because since Jan. 24, 1987, he has been held hostage by the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, a group of pro-Iranian extremists. “At first, I could not believe it, I was very angry, but then I said to myself, ‘It is a computer error, you can’t talk to a computer and tell him Alann is a hostage’ and my anger turned into laughter,” Virginia, a Beirut resident, said. “I called the (U.S.) embassy in Beirut and talked to a very nice man who is responsible for these matters and he joked, saying to me: ‘Fine. Let the IRS come and get your husband out to prosecute him.’ We both laughed and laughed,” she said. Her husband’s 1984 taxes, she believes, were paid long ago, but the letter warned that the tax bill has been compounding interest each day at 11% for the last four years. Virginia, who teaches interior design at Beirut University College, said: “I was later told not to worry about it. Someone at the IRS told me everything was settled and asked me not to worry about it, and I hope I don’t receive another letter like that. Oh, those American computers,” she said. “My feeling now is . . . first let the (U.S.) government get him out and then do what it wants with him.”

--Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) believes President Reagan should attend to some unfinished business before leaving office. Hyde, a supporter of the Administration as a member of the House-Senate committees that investigated the Iran-Contra affair last year, said he will urge the President to pardon Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter for their roles in the scandal because they “did what they thought was in the best interest of the country.” The two former White House aides were indicted last March on conspiracy and other charges in the arms sales to Iran and the diversion of profits to the Nicaraguan Contras. Hyde, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, said that the move “is not a not-guilty finding, it’s not absolution, it’s a pardon. It is saying that, all things considered, and looking at the totality of events, ‘I forgive you.’ . . . North is an authentic hero. He really is a brave man who risked his life. That ought to count for something.” The White House, however, insisted that the President will not consider pardons until the legal system has run its course.