Hostages’ Families Seek Greater Public Pressure : Terrorism: Many relatives of Americans held in Lebanon feel that Washington has deserted them. They will rally today at the White House.

‘ . . . What’s wrong with reaching out and touching someone when the hostages are at stake?’

--President Bush, March 13

Alone in a Damascus, Syria, hotel room, Peggy Say had good reason to feel uneasy.

Only days into her first-ever overseas trip, she was about to entertain a personal representative of Abu Nidal, then a fugitive Palestinian revolutionary. But Say wasn’t concerned for her own safety.

“What do you serve a terrorist?” she wondered.

To play it safe, the woman from rural Kentucky sent for a wide variety of munchies and beverages, including French pastries and Arabic coffee.

Boldly casting a wide net has typified Say’s controversial, globe-trotting odyssey in search of her kid brother, Terry Anderson, one of eight American hostages in Lebanon. Say said she began engaging in the extraordinary personal diplomacy only after losing confidence in the U.S. government.

Attempts to gain the release of the hostages--whether official or personal in nature--are coming under new scrutiny amid heightened speculation that they may soon be freed. On Tuesday, President Bush called even more attention to those efforts by alluding to covert initiatives on their behalf, including “going around in the back alleys.”

Whether any of those efforts will bear fruit remains to be seen. In the meantime, the President’s penchant for secret diplomacy has aroused deep resentment among many family members of the hostages. In interviews this week, family members said repeatedly that Washington’s public response to the crisis has left them feeling isolated and abandoned.

“I’m under the impression that there’s nothing official going on,” fumed Bryan Polhill, son of hostage Robert Polhill, 55.

“They only tell us what we’ve already heard,” added Virginia Rose Steen, wife of hostage Alann Steen, 50.

“What is it going to take to get the government moving?” demanded Simon Seikaly, Robert Polhill’s brother-in-law.

Today, many of the disillusioned relatives--who have coalesced into a mutual support group--hope to increase the public pressure, starting with a celebrity-studded noon rally in front of the White House.

As many as 30 family members, their largest such gathering, are expected to attend the “Ceremony of Hope,” which will mark the fifth anniversary of the day when three armed abductors in Beirut shoved Anderson into a green Mercedes and drove off.

Efforts Kept Secret

Very little is known publicly about the behind-the-scenes efforts on the hostages’ behalf--other than that some U.S. allies, especially West Germany, and a steady stream of international businessmen have carried messages to Iran and Syria.

As the President said at a Tuesday press conference: “There are things that go on. . . . “ Then he added tantalizingly: “When the whole story comes out on this, you all are going to be very, very fascinated with the details, very fascinated.”

And during a Thursday question-and-answer session with journalists, Bush added: “ . . . We are going down every alley, we are trying every avenue to free the hostages. But there is no negotiation going on with any part of the U.S. government or anything of that nature.”

To be sure, not all the relatives are disenchanted with Washington.

“They say there’s a lot going on, but they can’t tell us,” Estelle Ronneberg, mother of hostage Jesse (Jon) Turner, 42, said of the State Department. “They’ve told us in the past that sometimes opportunities have been lost because too many people knew what was going on.” Ronneberg said she was pleased to have received a Christmas note last year from Bush.

“We’re fed up, cynical beyond belief about the whole process,” said David Reed, nephew of hostage Frank Reed. He added that all parties, including the captors, were to blame for the seeming lack of progress.

The apparent prevailing view was expressed by Bruce Steen, Alann’s brother. “There’s no real pipeline for us. We just read the papers,” he said.

Virginia, his sister-in-law, added: “It’s very frustrating. Sometimes I feel the hostage wife will be the last to know anything. I’ve learned to sit back and wait, not to let my hopes get too high.”

Speculation about a possible release of the hostages arose last week amid a flurry of public and private signals from the Middle East, including a statement by Iranian President Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani that the situation was “moving toward a solution.”

Remains Cautious

But Ruth Polhill, mother of hostage Robert Polhill, spoke for many when she noted warily: “There have been many ups and many downs . . . and I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“You ought to always have hope,” added John Murray, brother-in-law to hostage Thomas Sutherland, 58. “But keep your expectations low. Over the past 4 1/2 years, we’ve seen positive news and negative news in cycles.”

The uncertainties were underscored Thursday when the captors of three of the hostages threatened to execute them unless the United States meets certain vague demands, apparently stemming from the captors’ outrage over the increased migration of Soviet Jews to Israel.

The Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine also vowed to attack airports and airlines involved in transporting Soviet Jews to Israel.

Over the years, many of the relatives have formed their own support network, exchanging late-night calls, personal visits and even a home video of a newborn baby. “There’s an instant bonding, an understanding of the particular hell you’re going through,” said Say, 49.

The long hostage stalemate also has taken surprising tolls.

About 100 members of Joseph Cicippio Sr.’s extended family used to hold reunions each summer; they longer do so. “It was getting to be a little too hard to handle, with Joe not here,” Thomas Cicippio said of his hostage brother, 59.

By far the most active and visible hostage relative has been Say, largely because her brother’s employer, the Associated Press news service, almost immediately began paying for her telephone and travel expenses.

Over the years, Say has held countless meetings--some highly publicized, many secret, others chance--with the likes of then-President Ronald Reagan, then-Vice President Bush, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Yasser Arafat, as well as with shadowy, gun-toting men whose allegiances remain obscure to Say, despite her increasing knowledge about the Middle East.

“When I first began,” she recalled, “I could hardly find Lebanon on a globe.”

Her tireless efforts have been controversial because some fear that she has made Anderson and the other hostages a more valuable commodity to their captors. At the same time, Say said, the State Department has warned her that “creating a fuss” could get her brother killed.

Cellmate’s Comments

But Say dismissed such suggestions. She noted that when French hostage Marcel Fontaine was released, he told her that Anderson, a one-time cellmate, had said: “My sister is my only hope for freedom.” Anderson has been held longer than any of the other Americans.

“I could never condone what these groups do in the name of Allah, or whatever,” Say said. Even so, she noted that the captors displayed “compassion” by extending their condolences when her father and another brother died.

“I will never come to grips with how I feel about that,” Say said.

“And when this is over, I don’t want to hunt them down. But neither will I readily forgive them for the pain they have inflicted.”

This story was reported by staff writers Geraldine Baum, Edwin Chen, Sam Fulwood III, Paul Houston, Shawn Pogatchnik, David G. Savage, Don Shannon and Karen Tumulty. It was written by Chen.

THE EIGHT AMERICAN HOSTAGES

Terry A. Anderson, 42, of Lorain, Ohio. The chief Middle East correspondent of the Associated Press, kidnaped March 16, 1985. He has a 4-year-old daughter he has never seen, and his father has died since his captivity. A Shiite Muslim group, the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad, claims to hold him.

Thomas Sutherland, 58, of Ft. Collins, Colo. The Scottish-born acting dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut, kidnaped June 9, 1985. He has a wife, Jean, three daughters and a 3-year-old granddaughter he has never seen. Islamic Jihad claims to hold him.

Frank Herbert Reed, 57, of Malden, Mass. The director of the private Lebanon International School in Beirut, kidnaped Sept. 9, 1986, in Muslim west Beirut. Reed has a Syrian wife and is a convert to Islam. A pro-Libyan group called Arab Revolutionary Cells-Omar Moukhtar Forces claims responsibility.

Joseph J. Cicippio, 59, of Norristown, Pa. He is the youngest of eight children, and the divorced father of seven; he remarried in late 1985 to Ilham, a Lebanese woman. The chief accountant and acting controller of the American University of Beirut, kidnaped Sept. 12, 1986. The Revolutionary Justice Organization, a Shiite group believed to be a faction of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, claimed responsibility.

Edward Austin Tracy, 59, of Rutland, Vt. Identified himself as an author of children’s books and an independent foreign-language book publisher. Known in Beirut as “the Koran salesman,” he is a converted Muslim. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on an ROTC scholarship, then served with the Air Force in Korea, and has spent his adult life living and traveling abroad. Date of kidnaping unclear, but Revolutionary Justice Organization claimed responsibility Oct. 21, 1986.

Jesse (Jon) Turner, 42, of Boise, Ida. A visiting professor of mathematics and computer science at Beirut University College, kidnaped Jan. 24, 1987, from university campus along with fellow American professors Robert Polhill, Alann Steen and Mithileshwar Singh, (Singh, a professor of finance, was freed Oct. 4, 1988). Divorced from his first wife, in 1986 he married a Lebanese secretary at the university, who remains with their 2-year-old daughter, Joanne, in the Middle East. Pro-Iranian Shiite faction, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, claims responsibility.

Alann Steen, 50, of Boston. A journalism professor at Beirut University College, kidnaped Jan. 24, 1987. He met and married a fine arts professor at a Virginia university, in the summer of 1986. Described as a quiet and cool-tempered man, he graduated from Humboldt State University in Boston with a master’s degree in journalism and education.

Robert Polhill, 55, of Beacon, N.Y. An assistant professor of business and lecturer in accounting at Beirut University College, kidnaped Jan. 24, 1987. A diabetic and a divorcee, he remarried in 1980 to Ferial, a Palestinian with Lebanese citizenship, who had lived with him in Beirut since March, 1983. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in hotel management, then studied at New York State University and became a certified public accountant.