Carter Lauds Bush on Hostage Issue : Presidency: He tells reporters before his speech in Irvine that the current Administration is handling the situation better than Reagan did.

Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that, unlike his predecessor, President Bush is handling the American hostage crisis in a constructive manner and that it appears Iranian leaders are sincere in seeking a resolution to the hostage problem.

Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III “are doing much more than President Reagan and Secretary (George) Shultz did,” Carter said at a press conference Tuesday before speaking at a dinner for Whittier College supporters at the Irvine Hilton.

“Understandably, after the Iran-Contra scandal broke, (Reagan and Shultz) were extremely reluctant to get involved in any kind of even proper discussions through diplomatic channels to get the hostages released,” Carter said. “President Bush is taking a much more constructive and, I think, proper approach.”

Based on recent discussions with leaders in Syria, Carter said he also believes that Iranian leaders have concluded that “the hostage holding is contrary to their best interests” and that they are “working with a more constructive attitude toward resolving issues with the West.”

Carter said he thinks the United States will soon be prepared to release the remainder of the $12 billion in Iranian assets held in American banks that he seized in 1979 after Iranians held hostages in the U.S. Embassy. That prolonged hostage crisis irreparably damaged Carter’s presidency and contributed to his 1980 defeat at the hands of Reagan.

The remaining assets “will likely be returned to Iran, and that offers another opportunity for hostage release,” he said.

Carter also agreed with U.S. Senate leaders who, this week, encouraged Israel to consider the release of hundreds of Arab prisoners in its jails in hopes of encouraging the release of American and other hostages.

“I would like for all of the countries to get out of the hostage-holding business,” Carter said.

On other issues:

* Carter praised Bush for his response to Lithuania’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. “I think President Bush’s position on that is a proper one,” he said. “It would be very disturbing, not only within the Soviet Union but within the international community, for us to recognize Lithuania as an independent nation. That’s really a matter for them to solve, as I think President Bush has said.”

* As President Nixon’s library nears completion in Yorba Linda, Carter said he believes “history is going to treat Nixon well. . . . Watergate never will be forgotten, but I think since President Nixon has left the White House he has done a great job in explaining to the American people and to the world his notable achievements. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency . . . was passed by a Democratic Congress but signed by President Nixon with his full support.”

* Carter was optimistic that Central American presidents “have been quite constructive in their willingness to work together to try to resolve disputes peacefully--contrary, I might say, to the inclination from Washington to try to resolve disputes with war. I think they have already shown that they have sound judgment in handling their own affairs.”

* Carter said he will be back in Orange County next month to briefly visit a housing project being planned by Habitat for Humanity, a worldwide program that he has championed to build low-income housing.

Hostage WAIT: A top official of Lebanon’s pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants indicates that remaining Americans face a long wait. A4