Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991 TAG: 9103120131
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BEIRUT, LEBANON LENGTH: Medium
The report coincided with a fresh drive by the United States and Britain to secure the release of the hostages through the efforts of Iran and Syria.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the captives were now believed held in hideouts controlled by Shiite fundamentalists in and around the ancient Roman town of Baalbek in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
"Lebanese troops searched all suspected hideouts controlled by Shiite fanatics in south Beirut last week and there was no trace of any of the captives," one source said.
The source said the search included the two main barracks used by the fundamentalist Hezbollah, or Party of God, in the shantytowns of Hajjaj and Hay Madi, where most of the missing Westerners had been believed held.
The missing men are six Americans, four Britons, two Germans and an Italian. The Americans are journalist Terry Anderson, educators Thomas Sutherland, Jesse Turner, Alann Steen and Joseph Cicippio, and writer Edward Tracy.
The army's search was primarily to ascertain that Christian and Muslim militias that fought Lebanon's 16-year-old civil war have withdrawn heavy weapons from the capital, as pledged under a plan to demilitarize the city.
President Bush has reportedly directed Secretary of State James Baker to raise the issue of the six American captives during his current tour of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on Monday that the Lebanese army seized ports north and south of Beirut that had long been controlled by rival militias.
A Defense Ministry communique said that troops under the direct supervision of the army commander, Gen. Emile Lahoud, established outposts at two of the ports, which were held by the Lebanese Forces, the powerful private Christian militia. One of these piers was at the Beirut port and a second at the fishing village of Dbeiye a few miles to the north.
At the same time, other troops took charge of the Ouzai and Khalde ports in Beirut's southern districts, the communique said. Ouzai was operated by the mainline Shiite Muslim movement Amal, while the mostly Druse Progressive Socialist Party had controlled the Khalde harbor.
The army action was part of an effort by the Syrian-backed government of President Elias Hrawi to consolidate its power in the greater Beirut area.
by CNB