Hostages ‘moved’

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 10

Hostages ‘moved’

NZPA-Reuter Beirut A militant Islamic group said yesterday that it had moved four hostages out of Beirut to foil what it said was an expected United States attack. The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) for the Liberation of Palestine group repeated an earlier threat to kill the four, three Americans and an Indian, on February 9 if “400 prisoner Palestinian strugglers”

were not released by Israel.

In a statement, delivered to an international news agency with a photograph of one of the American hostages, Alan Steen, it called a “general alert” for Islamic forces to confront the expected attack and urged them also to move their hostages. Professor Alan Steen, Robert Polhill, Jesse Turner, and Mithileshwar

Singh, were kidnapped from Beirut University College campus on January 24. Israel says that there is “no way” it would release the prisoners. The hostage-takers said: "Information available to us indicated that Washington intends to carry out a military attack on the centres of the Islamic forces under the pretext of fighting terrorism and freeing hostages.”

United States Defence Department officials said yesterday that the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John F. Kennedy and its eightship battle-group . had moved into the eastern Mediterranean.

The deployment did not signal any plans for military action, they said. The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz and other warships have been close to Lebanon for nearly a week.