U.S., Israel to Pay in Deaths, Kidnapers Say

Kidnapers who claim to hold two U.S. hostages Saturday blamed the United States in the massacre of seven Palestinian workers in Israel last week and vowed to make the United States and Israel “pay the price.”

However, the statement by the Organization of Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine did not directly threaten to harm the two hostages.

The Arabic-language statement, delivered to a Western news agency in Beirut, came with an instant picture of U.S. hostages Jesse Turner and Alann Steen. The men, both teachers, were kidnaped Jan. 24, 1987, from Beirut University College.

On April 22, the same group released Robert Polhill, a business professor who was kidnaped with Steen and Turner.

“America is directly responsible for shedding the blood of our people and their cause,” the group’s 18-line statement said Saturday, referring to the shooting deaths of seven Arab laborers by an apparently deranged Israeli on May 20. The shootings prompted widespread unrest among Arabs in Jordan, Israel and the occupied territories.

“We warn America and Israel that future developments will not be in the interest of either of them. They will realize that the blood will not be wasted. They will pay the price,” the kidnapers’ statement said.

Asked about the statement, State Department spokeswoman Anita Stockman said: “I don’t really have anything I can comment on . . . except to say that our general policy is to say that the hostages should be freed immediately and unconditionally.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman in Israel refused to comment.