Muslim Kidnapers Solely to Blame, Israel Contends

Israeli officials responded sharply Monday to suggestions that the apparent slaying of an American hostage Monday resulted from Israel’s decision to kidnap a militant Muslim leader in southern Lebanon last week.

Foreign Minister Moshe Arens contended that the Shiite Muslim militiamen who held the American, Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, were solely responsible for his presumed death.

“They are the only ones to blame for these kind of acts,” Arens said during a government radio broadcast. “The civilized world has to ask itself how best to fight this kind of terrible criminal action.”

Israeli forces captured Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid and two associates during a helicopter raid. Early today, Israeli officials claimed that during interrogation, Obeid has already confessed not only to the kidnaping of Higgins but also to the capture of two Israeli soldiers and participation in planning attacks on Israeli troops in Lebanon.

In response to the seizure, members of Hezbollah, or Party of God, threatened to hang Higgins if Obeid was not released. A group called the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, a Hezbollah faction, said it hanged Higgins on Monday.

Arens parried questions raised by Israeli reporters that relations with the United States would suffer as a result of the sheik’s kidnaping and its link with Higgins’ fate. President Bush and other Western leaders had criticized the seizure of Obeid as a danger to regional peace.

“Israel and the United States stand together in the fight against terrorism, have done so in the past and will do so in the future,” Arens countered.

Israeli officials insisted that despite the deadly retaliation by Hezbollah, the abduction of Obeid will strike a blow at terrorism in the long run.

“This is not something that can be measured in terms of hours or days,” said Alon Liel, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. “One has to look at the battle in terms of years.”

Officials here argued that by abducting Obeid, Israel was acting for the good of Western nations. “The only way to fight terrorism is by force,” government radio quoted Arens as saying. “And the Free World will have to learn this.”

While the government kept up a spirited defense, questions were being raised in and out of government about the wisdom and long-term significance of taking Obeid.

In the past, Israel had been willing to trade prisoners with its enemies, but on the Israeli side at least, the captives were generally those taken randomly in the course of combat or anti-terrorist operations.

However, earlier this year Israel began to engage in what one observer called “designer kidnaping”: the seizure of enemy leaders, such as Obeid, who would be more attractive bait in bargaining over prisoners.

“There is no question that Israel upped the ante,” said political scientist Shlomo Avineri. “This is an uncharted course that Israel has embarked on.”

The first instance of the new tactic came to light late last year when Israel kidnaped a Shiite militia leader from southern Lebanon. The leader, Jawad Kaspari, was said to have participated in the capture of an Israeli air force navigator shot down over southern Lebanon in 1986.

Kaspari’s detention has not yet resulted in the release of the airman.

Likewise, Obeid was seized to secure the release of the downed navigator along with two Israeli soldiers captured in southern Lebanon earlier in 1986, Defense Ministry officials said.

But Israel also took the unusual step of publicly claiming to act on behalf of other countries without telling them. First it announced that Higgins might be recovered in a swap for Obeid, even though it said it had not informed Washington of the kidnaping in advance.

On Monday, Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin made a sweeping offer to exchange not only Obeid but also scores of Shiite prisoners held by Israel, for all the foreigners, Israeli or otherwise, held captive in Lebanon.

“This is part of Israel’s longtime policy of persuading the world that terrorism is not just a problem for Israel, but for everybody,” said political analyst Avineri.

The Jerusalem Post today published comments by government officials regretting that Israel had publicly acknowledged abducting Obeid. Publicizing the raid was not part of the original plan, the newspaper said.

Sources in the Defense Ministry expressed concern that by predicating a range of benefits from Obeid’s capture, the government had ignored key political risks.

“How can we take responsibility for all the hostages? We are not the policemen of the Middle East. We should be taking care of our own, and not Higgins or other people,” one official said.

The source said that originally, the intent of Obeid’s kidnaping was only to improve the chances of a deal with Hezbollah over the three captured Israeli soldiers. Israel has held secret talks with Iran, which backs the militia, over the issue. A special assistant to Rabin handles nothing else but negotiations over missing soldiers.

Israeli defense officials had taken into consideration the possibility that Hezbollah might avenge the kidnaping by striking at hostages from Israel or other places, a defense source said. “But there was no other way. We want to get our people back.”