Perez de Cuellar Encouraged by Militants’ Letter

Expectations of freedom for more Western hostages climbed Sunday after U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar received a letter from a militant Shiite Muslim organization in Lebanon, giving him its authority to press for resolution of the hostage crisis.

The six-page letter is “important,” Perez de Cuellar said after the Arabic-language document underwent an initial translation. And while he said that it did not contain “very precise details,” it nevertheless gave “me a kind of power to continue my efforts on their behalf.”

The document was handed to the U.N. chief at a Royal Air Force base west of London by John McCarthy, the former British hostage freed Thursday in Beirut by Islamic Jihad, one of several pro-Iranian Shiite extremist organizations believed to be holding Western hostages.

McCarthy’s captors gave him the letter, sealed in a large tan envelope, with instructions to deliver it personally to Perez de Cuellar. The U.N. leader made a special stopover in England to pick up the letter as part of an earlier scheduled journey from his headquarters in New York to U.N. offices in Geneva.

Perez de Cuellar said that the letter would be given a final translation in Geneva and that its contents will be made public today.

Islamic Jihad claims to be holding three of the 10 remaining Western hostages in Beirut: Americans Terry A. Anderson and Thomas M. Sutherland and Briton Terry Waite. It is widely believed that the organization’s letter to Perez de Cuellar demands freedom for Lebanese and Palestinian captives held or controlled by Israel in exchange for freedom for the Westerners in Beirut.

Islamic Jihad’s letter focused international attention on the U.N. chief’s new role as a go-between among various groups and nations involved in the Middle East hostage crisis.

Islamic Jihad and the Revolutionary Justice Organization--the latter freed American hostage Edward A. Tracy on Sunday--are believed to see the United Nations as the best mediator to gain their aims.

After McCarthy handed over the letter at the Royal Air Force base at Lyneham--where he has been undergoing medical checkups since his release Thursday after more than five years of captivity--the 34-year-old television journalist said he is confident that all the hostages will soon be freed.

“It’s my belief that the kidnapers do want to end the situation, and with the help of the good offices of the secretary general, it will come to an end,” he declared.

To the hostages, he advised: “Keep the faith. It won’t be too long, I’m sure.”

The letter-delivery ceremony was broadcast widely by television. McCarthy and Perez de Cuellar posed for several minutes to make sure that McCarthy’s captors in Lebanon, if they were watching, saw that he carried out the mission they gave him before turning him loose.

McCarthy, appearing relaxed and smiling, embraced Perez de Cuellar, who arrived by helicopter from London. McCarthy said it was a “relief” to complete the mission and added: “They (Islamic Jihad) expressed their total confidence that the secretary general was the man who could work for their interests, in the interest of humanity, to ensure the release of all the hostages in Lebanon and the other prisoners in the region.”

The U.N. leader, who is scheduled to retire at the end of this year and would like to top his career by obtaining the hostages’ freedom, said he is prepared to travel to the Middle East if such a visit would help free the remaining prisoners.

“My duty is to maintain my efforts, and with the cooperation of the press,” he said, “I can assure you I will be fully committed to do my best in order to totally solve this humanitarian problem.”

After meeting McCarthy, Perez de Cuellar declared: “I was delighted to see him in such wonderful shape, not only physically but mentally. I think you British have to be proud of him.”

Perez de Cuellar said of the Arabic-language message, “Of course, I’m going to read very carefully what they say in their letter.”

Once he has a fully translated copy of the letter’s contents, Perez de Cuellar said, and knows all of the problems involved, he hopes to gain the cooperation of all concerned governments, including that of Israel, for steps he will be taking next.

British Foreign Office Minister Douglas Hogg, who accompanied Perez de Cuellar to see McCarthy, said later: “We are optimistic about what is happening. The two releases today (Tracy and Frenchman Jerome Leyraud) are extremely important, but one has to be conscious of the obstacles that still exist.”

Hogg said he thought it would be helpful if the Israelis would release some detainees held in southern Lebanon, adding that it would help build the momentum to free all of the hostages.

McCarthy spoke of hostages that he shared captivity with in Lebanon: Anderson, an American journalist kidnaped more than six years ago; Sutherland, who was a dean at the American University of Beirut, and Waite, a special emissary of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“They are made of enormous strength, dignity and humor, and the friendships we had supported each other mutually, and I think that is why I can appear as I am. I owe everything to those men, and before them to (previously released hostage) Brian Keenan.”

Of Waite, McCarthy said: “He is in good shape mentally. He is in good shape physically. You will remember he is a very big man (physically). I would not say he has shrunk. But he has lost quite a bit of weight. I think he is quite happy about that.”

Meanwhile, champagne corks popped as worshipers drank a special toast to McCarthy and his release at Sunday services in the tiny village church of St. Mary’s at Broxted in Essex.