2 of 3 Israelis Sought in Swap Believed Dead

Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid, a Muslim cleric abducted in Lebanon by Israeli commandos last month, has told interrogators that two of three missing Israeli soldiers for whom Israel has offered to exchange him have long been dead, military sources here said Sunday.

Officials of the Bush Administration were informed of Obeid’s disclosure within the past 10 days. They do not expect it to affect the delicate course of negotiations for the freedom of Western hostages in Lebanon believed to be held by several factions of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group, Administration sources in Washington said.

Bargaining Chip

If Obeid’s information is confirmed, Israel will try to recover the bodies of the two men, using Obeid, a Hezbollah leader from southern Lebanon, as a bargaining chip, Israeli officials said. A third Israeli soldier is believed to be held by another Shiite Muslim group, and Israel hopes to win his release as well in exchange for Obeid.

“It doesn’t make any difference if only one soldier is missing or 100,” a government source said. “We still will try to get him.”

Israel has offered to exchange Obeid and other Shiite prisoners for its soldiers plus the Western hostages, including eight Americans, held in Lebanon. Although President Bush criticized the kidnaping of Obeid, the abduction set off intense diplomatic efforts by Washington to free the Western hostages. That diplomacy, involving a number of countries, is aimed at getting Iran and Syria to influence their client Shiite groups in Lebanon to free the captives.

Capture Provoked Threats

The hostage issue had faded from daily public prominence until Israel abducted Obeid from a village in southern Lebanon. That action provoked a series of threats to the lives of the hostages and the reported murder by hanging of one, U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins. U.S. officials, however, believe Higgins may have been killed long before the Obeid abduction.

Although Obeid’s kidnaping erupted into an international crisis, its original purpose was to secure the release of the three Israeli prisoners.

The Israeli government had been under steady domestic pressure to determine the status of its own missing soldiers in Lebanon. Both U.S. and Israeli officials knew that at least one, if not both, of the soldiers now reported to be dead were injured when they were surprised in an ambush and captured by Hezbollah in 1986. Israel got photographic evidence that both were alive up to several hours after their capture, but it lost track of them soon afterward.

According to Obeid, both died within hours of their capture.

Despite Obeid’s disclosure, the families of the two soldiers, Joseph Fink and Rahamim Alsheikh, were told not to give up hope nor to pay heed to news reports about the men’s fates, Israel government radio reported.

In Rosh Haayin, Alsheikh’s hometown, family members shut themselves in their home to avoid reporters. Neighbors said the family traveled daily to Jerusalem to inquire about the fate of the soldier. Alsheikh’s neighbors and friends, all members of the traditionalist Yemenite community, plan to hold a religious service today to pray for his safe return.

No Comment on Fate

A third missing Israeli, air navigator Ron Arad, is believed to be in the hands of a group called Islamic Amal, a Shiite militia organization said to be sponsored by Syria. Unlike the other two, Israel obtained firm information that he was alive at least a month after his 1986 capture.

Officially, Israel is declining to comment on the fate of the three, insisting that it will wait until the Red Cross can confirm their whereabouts. Responding to reports in a British newspaper that the two Israeli soldiers are dead, army spokesman Ephrahim Lapid said: “The subject of captives and missing is one of the sensitive subjects of Israeli life, Israeli society and the army. We occasionally hear various reports, some of which are part of a psychological war against us. We consider the prisoners and (soldiers) missing in action to be alive until it is authoritatively proven otherwise.”

Israeli officials have boasted that interrogators gleaned important information from Obeid about the workings of Hezbollah. The group opposes Israeli occupation of a six- to 10-mile-wide buffer zone in southern Lebanon and has undertaken numerous guerrilla forays to harass Israeli troops and their Lebanese allies.

Last week, two suicide car bombers drove to within three miles of Israel’s northern border and set off an explosion near an Israeli convoy. Six Israeli soldiers were wounded.

On Sunday, the Israeli army announced that an accomplice of the bombers had been arrested. The unidentified man, reported to belong to Hezbollah, helped lead the car bombers to their target. He also recruited youths for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the army report said.