Rebels Seize 4 Americans : OAS Chief and Others Freed From Salvador Hotel : U.S. Blasts Seizure as ‘Terrorist’

Leftist rebels stormed a luxury hotel today, taking at least 20 hostages before releasing all of them except four Americans, a Briton and a Chilean they said were military advisers.

The Salvadoran government said the assault on the Sheraton Hotel in the exclusive suburb of Escalon had been a plot to kidnap the secretary general of the Organization of American States who is in the country to arrange a cease-fire.

Reporters at the scene said that 10 hours after the siege began all guests with the exception of the six foreign military advisers had been freed.

El Salvador’s National Radio said the armed forces were taking back control of the Sheraton Hotel, which was the prime target of a surprise pre-dawn assault in the wealthy suburb crowded with embassies.

The United States condemned the takeover as an “outrageous act of terrorism” and left open the possibility of U.S. military action to protect Americans.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said President Bush has met with his top advisers and is following the situation closely.

Fitzwater said the rebels have embarked on a “despicable road of violence.”

Rebel spokesmen said the guerrillas are willing to free the six they hold as “prisoners of war.”

El Salvador’s official information agency said that the armed forces had “foiled a terrorist attempt to kidnap” the OAS secretary general, Joao Baena Soares, who had made the Sheraton his headquarters in a bid to bring a cease-fire to 11 days of the heaviest fighting so far in the war.

Reporters for local newspapers said troops rushed into the main building of the hotel before the rebels could reach it and escorted Soares to a waiting helicopter.

Salvador Sanabria, the rebel spokesman in Washington, told Cable News Network that the Americans fired at rebel troops.

“The U.S. military advisers exchanged fire with our troops,” he said. “Our soldiers made no attempt to harm them, and they were captured. We are willing to release them to their government at any minute. We have contacted the International Red Cross and the governments of the citizens being held. The U.S. Embassy has not been in contact back with us.”

He said he did not know if the military advisers were in uniform.

“They are prisoners of war now, so they are going to be released under the conditions of the Geneva Convention. They are being treated well. They have food, water; they are not being harmed,” he said.

CNN reported that the State Department confirmed that the four are military advisers and said they were armed with side arms and M-16 automatic rifles.

Government troops sealed off the exclusive Escalon area but said they were unable to storm the hotel because the guerrillas had mined stairways, entrances and elevators.

Barry Jacobs, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, said the rebels controlled two floors of a small building used for VIP guests.