
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990                   TAG: 9007090035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BEIRUT, LEBANON                                LENGTH: Medium

HOSTAGE RELEASE PLANNED BY SHIITES, REPORTS SAY

Iran has decided to use its influence with Shiite Moslem kidnappers to free one of 16 Western hostages they hold, and a scenario for the release is being worked out, a source close to the fundamentalist Hezbollah said Sunday.

The source would not speculate on who would be released, or answer any other questions. "We have to wait for a communique [from the kidnappers]," he said.

Another source close to the command of Syrian troops in Beirut's Moslem sector said he did not expect a hostage to go free before the middle of the week.

"We haven't been contacted yet about arrangements of the release. It usually takes two to three days after such contact to have the hostage out," the source said. He also requested anonymity.

The Shiite source spoke just before Israeli warplanes struck a Hezbollah base in southern Lebanon in their 14th air raid on targets in Lebanon this year.

At least two people were killed and seven wounded in the raid on a position between the villages of Jarjou and Ein Bouswar, two to three miles north of Israel's self-designated security zone in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, or Party of God, is believed to be an umbrella for underground factions holding most of the Westerners.

It was not clear if the hostage-holders would cancel the reported plan for a hostage release in retaliation for the raid.

Tehran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Saturday that a Western hostage would probably be released soon. It said that most likely the hostage would be one of the Europeans.

The hostages include six Americans and 10 Europeans - four Britons, two Swiss, two West Germans, an Irishman and an Italian.

The report said the sources "hinted that he is most probably a European national."

A source close to the Syrian army command said that if any hostage were released, it would probably be the Irishman, Brian Keenan.

The source refused to say why he thought Keenan, who also holds a British passport, would be the one released.

Keenan, 39, was kidnapped in Moslem west Beirut April 11, 1986, as he walked from his home to the American University of Beirut, where he taught English.

by CNB