October Surprise: the Sequel

By JANICE CASTRO/

Before long the Bush campaign may be dealing with a new flock of OCTOBER SURPRISE rumors. And this time at least two senior Republican Senators are pressing for a fresh probe that would go beyond the allegations that the Reagan-Bush campaign team delayed the release of Iranian-held American hostages back in 1980 for political gain. The new claims -- unsubstantiated so far -- say that starting in 1986, George Bush, then Vice President, secretly visited Damascus several times to discuss possible Syrian help in freeing hostages held in Lebanon. But until his 1988 presidential campaign got under way, according to the story, he stonewalled the Syrians, playing for prime campaign timing. Republicans want to get to the bottom of intelligence- community suspicions that the U.S. somehow blew a chance to free Terry Anderson and his fellow captives because Syria lost patience with the American game.

With reporting by Wendy Cole