Militia arrest three men linked to kidnapping

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 8

Militia arrest three men linked to kidnapping

NZPA-Reuter Beirut The Shi’ite Muslim Amal militia has arrested three men linked to the kidnapping of an American Marine officer, LieutenantColonel William Higgins, in the first apparent breakthrough in a weeklong search in south Lebanon. Daoud Daoud, Amal’s military official in the southern port of Tyre, said the three were detained last Thursday (New Zealand time) shortly after Colonel Higgins, the head of the Lebanon unit of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), was abducted. “We have high probability we can find him,” he said. Two of the detained men took part in the abduction and the third was arrested while carrying a message to the captors in the south to move Colonel Higgins to Beirut, he said. Mr Daoud, who has been in charge of the search for Colonel Higgins, said Amal militiamen were searching for the leader of the captors as well as hideouts named by the detained men as possible spots where he might be held. Witnesses said United Nation troops manning scores of checkpoints in the Tyre area had copies of a picture of one of the captors sketched from a description by a witness to the abduction. It showed a bearded man, in his 30s, with curly dark hair. Official sources said . the United Nations Under Secretary-Gen-eral, Marrack Goulding, was due to arrive in Lebanon to follow up efforts to obtain the release of Colonel Higgins. Mr Daoud said the American officer was either in Tyre which is under Amal’s control, or in the Nabatiyeh district, south-east of Tyre, where the pro-Iranian Hizbollah (Party of God) controls many villages. Hizbollah has denied reports that it was behind the abduction of some of the 28 foreigners believed to have been kidnapped in Lebanon. Amal militiamen have stormed Hizbollah hideouts, including the houses of at least four Hizbollah clergy, and arrested several of its members in a search for Colonel Higgins. A group of Shi’ite clergy held talks at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday to condejin Amal’s clampdown on Hizbollah