Col. Higgins Was Hanged, Shiites Say; Bush Outraged : President Cuts Short Trip West

An outraged President Bush today cut short a two-day Western trip and hurried back to Washington to deal with the reported execution in Lebanon of hostage Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, a “matter that has shocked the American people right to the core.”

Bush said in Chicago that he would first try to learn what has happened to Higgins and then “figure out what might conceivably be done” in response.

He ordered a late-afternoon meeting of his national security advisers in Washington.

Arriving at the White House, Bush told reporters, “I don’t have what I would call a final confirmation” that Higgins was hanged. He said he had talked to the U.N. secretary general and to Higgins’ wife, Robin, a Marine major, whom he described as a “stoic individual who is going through sheer hell.”

Outrage Inexpressible

“There is no way I can properly express the outrage that I feel,” he said.

Higgins’ reported killing triggered an instant debate in Congress over Israel’s role in the events. Israeli commandos kidnaped a Shiite Muslim cleric last week, and the announcement of Higgins’ hanging said he was killed in retaliation.

“Perhaps a little more responsibility on behalf of the Israelis would be refreshing,” said Senate GOP leader Bob Dole of Kansas. But Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) countered that blaming Israel would be “turning the world on its head.”

Secretary of State James A. Baker III, returning home from a conference in Paris, called the reported killing “outrageous and uncivilized behavior,” but he added: “I do have to say that these reports are as yet unconfirmed and I am not in a position to confirm the accuracy of the report.”

State Department officials, insisting on anonymity, described as credible news reports that the victim in the videotape was indeed Higgins. They were unable to say, however, whether the taping was done this morning or earlier.

U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar expressed “outrage and revulsion” at the reported murder of Higgins, who was kidnaped while leading a U.N. organization in Lebanon.

Perez de Cuellar said that “I have been told it could be him (Higgins) because in a videotape (of the purported hanging) . . . there are indications it is very much like him.”

He said his information came from many sources and said he also spoke with President Bush.