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

DATE: MONDAY, May 14, 1990                   TAG: 9005140026
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MARJAYOUN, LEBANON                                LENGTH: Medium

ARMY COMMANDER OFFERS TRADE: MOSLEMS FOR WESTERN HOSTAGES

The commander of Israel's proxy force in southern Lebanon said Sunday he is ready to swap a "large number" of the 300 Moslems held by his militia for 16 Western hostages held by pro-Iranian Shiites.

Gen. Antoine Lahd, commander of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army, also included in the trade three Israeli servicemen and several of his men held by Shiite factions.

"I'm not only prepared to facilitate such a package deal, but I also hope it could happen," Lahd said in an interview with The Associated Press at his house in the SLA compound in Marjayoun.

Lahd, 61, a retired Lebanese army officer, commands the 3,000-strong militia that patrols Israel's self-proclaimed security zone in southern Lebanon. It is backed by about 1,000 Israeli troops.

In Jerusalem, a senior government spokesman asked about Lahd's offer, said: "I don't think it depends on Lahd or on us but on the other side."

Asked if there was any sign of movement from the other side, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity, "none that I know of."

The SLA holds the 300 Shiites in Khiam, a small village in Israel's six- to 10-mile-wide security zone, which stretches from the Mediterranean to the foothills of Mount Hermon. The border zone was established in 1985 when Israel ended a three-year occupation and withdrew the bulk of its army from southern Lebanon.

Most of the 16 Western hostages missing in Lebanon are held by pro-Iranian Shiite factions operating under the umbrella of the fundamentalist Hezbollah, or Party of God. The longest-held is Terry Anderson, 42, chief Middle East correspondent for The AP. He was kidnapped on March 16, 1985.

Two American hostages, Robert Polhill and Frank Reed, were released by their pro-Iranian captors last month as a "goodwill gesture."

Since then, however, there have been contradictory statements from Iran on any further releases. President Bush has refused to deal for freedom for the hostages, who include six Americans.

There was no immediate reaction to Lahd's offer from the pro-Iranian factions holding hostages, from Lebanese clergymen or from Iran.

Iranian leaders hoping to improve ties with the West have said all hostages should be freed this year. But radicals argue that holding hostages is a means of confronting the West, which the anti-Western faction considers a cornerstone of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In the past, kidnappers and their backers have said the release of the Shiites held by the SLA and Israel would help end the hostages' ordeal.

by CNB