Terrorism

"You all know that our fellow Alann Steen is dying." The speaker on the videotape was Jesse Turner, one of four Beirut University instructors taken hostage in January by a pro-Iranian Shi'ite faction known as the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine. He was referring to a communique from the group earlier last week announcing that Steen, another of the four, was gravely ill. A doctor who had examined Steen, said Turner, reported that he was suffering a "crisis in his blood pressure," with symptoms that included headaches and difficulty in breathing. The original message warned that the captive's condition was such that he faced the "danger of death in ten days."

The reports of Steen's failing health brought a distraught response from his wife Virginia. Tears welling in her eyes, she pleaded with the captors at a televised news conference, "Please, please, release my husband." The Jihad group said it was willing to do so only in exchange for some 100 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Officials in Washington and Jerusalem reiterated their objections to any such deal on the grounds that it would be submitting to blackmail. Thus, despite the optimism generated by the release of two Saudi Arabian hostages two weeks ago, the fates of Steen and 22 other foreign captives still in Lebanon remained as unresolved as ever.

Meanwhile, French authorities announced the arrests in Paris of eight suspected terrorists, at least some of them with close ties to pro-Iranian extremist groups in Lebanon, on weapons and conspiracy charges. Besides guns and ammunition, twelve quarts of the liquid explosive methyl nitrate were found, leading officials to believe the suspected terrorists were planning a bombing campaign similar to the one that rocked Paris last fall. Police described all of the suspects as devout Shi'ite Muslims, and six of them carried expired Tunisian passports.

On the same day the arrests were revealed, Tunisia abruptly broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. The announcement did not specifically mention the Paris incident, but it accused Iran of "recruitment of certain elements among our people abroad to execute acts prohibited by international law." In fact relations between the two countries were already frayed. Irked by Iranian charges that the former French protectorate remains too westernized, Tunis closed down its Tehran embassy six years ago.