European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday August 14, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 Higgins knew the danger but he had a Mission to do by Ronam. Fields special o the Washington Post less than a month before he was kidnapped in february 1988,1 met it. Col. William r. Higgins atthe swedish dining facility at uni Fil Headquarters in in Navura Lebanon. I was the last journalist to interview him and i came away with a very different picture of him from the Gung to Marine daredevil i be been Reading about since he was captured and killed. 1 was working on a Story about women serving in quasi combat units with several of the contingents that make up the United nations Force in Lebanon and i was deep in discussion with several of the swedes when an american officer chimed in. He knew All about women in the military he said since his own wife was a major in the Marine corps. The american introduced himself As Rich Higgins and said he had just taken Over As commander of the 75-member observer group in Lebanon of the . Truce supervision organization or unto. As he talked about the need to thoroughly integrate women in the military his views sounded nearly identical to those of the swedes and norwegians i d been interviewing the past fortnight. Then the conversation shifted to his new assignment commanding the . Observer group which had begun Jan. 9,1988. Higgins command had suffered casualties just three okays after he had assumed his Post. A australian officer capt. Peter Mccarthy was killed and his Canadian companion severely injured when a land mine exploded while they were on a routine patrol. Higgins mounted an immediate investigation. He said he was determined that victims of terrorism such As Mccarthy would not be blamed simply because they were unlucky enough to have been in harm s Way while performing their duty. Yet paradoxically that is exactly what happened to Higgins. The stories about the Gung to Marin have implied that he was looking for trouble that he took needless risks that made him an attractive target. Those stories have it wrong and they do Higgins memory a disservice. He was an open easygoing person. He understood that it was dangerous for an american to be working in Lebanon in 1988. But he talked comfortably about his Mission there and the history of american involvement in unto. He reminded me that the first commanding officer in 1948, had been an american. So there was established precedent he said for his  fell it was important for the United states to fulfil its regular turn in unto for leadership rotation. Higgins understood that service in a . Agency did t provide him any automatic Protection. The pro iranian organization Hezbollah or party of cod wanted the . S forces out of Southern Lebanon nearly As much As they wanted the americans and israelis out of there. A couple of Days before our meeting several scandinavian . Workers had been kidnapped their status As neutrals and unarmed civilians had been no Protection. Despite these obvious risks Higgins said he would maintain the same level of Field supervision As had his australian predecessor. Col. Ewen Cameron. Our conversation at the swedish dining facility that evening turned to the subject of my interviews with the other uni Fil contingents the integration of women in a peacekeeping Force. Higgins had a lot to say on that subject. Proud of his wife Robin a Marine corps major he d met while they were both stationed at Quantico va., he expressed the conviction that the future of the military is peacekeeping and that women should be incorporated into every command. One of the officers sitting with us at the table broke in to remind Higgins that there was a Price tag attached to every american in Lebanon and the conversation slipped Back to Higgins Mission. I gained a clearer picture of that Mission later after he was kidnapped when i met with unto officers who had served with Higgins and with lebanese whose Homes and shops he had visited. They described the dangers he faced and his dedication. Word had been passed to him that there were towns in which his safety could not be guaranteed. Jib hit Home of Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid the shiite moslem Leader and reputed Hezbollah militia chief in the area was one of them. Higgins passed through Jib hit but he did so swiftly and discreetly carrying out his responsibility to patrol in All the United nations areas of operation in Southern Lebanon but not in a Way that would seem provocative or threatening. Maj. Vernon Mck can a Canadian who served under Higgins said later that his own wife had been so afraid for Higgins safety that she d Given her husband Canadian Maple Leaf patches to Coyer Higgins stars and stripes Patch if the Canadian and gains icon Higgins made regular visits to the men under his command and insisted on taking the same risks the did. He said during our interview that leadership meant taking the  local lebanese who met him say they were impressed by his forthright manner and interest in knowing the locals even those who might be antagonists. There Are reports too that he was warned by an intelligence officer for one of the local militias that there was a Price on his head. The lebanese viewed Higgins with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. An american in Lebanon is always an object of curiosity All the More so an american commanding a multinational military Force. Lebanese who met Higgins on one of his frequent it. Col. William r. Higgins in Lebanon. Tours of outposts said they assumed he was important to the american government or he would never have been sent to Lebanon. Since the lebanese know that americans arc ordinarily forbidden to enter their country they assume that anyone who docs so must be a spy. What happened to Higgins on feb. 17, 1988? a week before he had scheduled a meeting on that Date with Abdul Marced Salah the senior amal official in Tyre who himself was subsequently assassinated. On his Way to and from such meetings Higgins sometimes met other local figures. Perhaps someone in amal Headquarters or some other apparently trustworthy person advised Higgins that he might be intercepted by some local notable on his return from the meeting with Salah. In his last moments of Freedom Higgins was driving in a two car Convoy along bumpy Muddy roads. The View of the Driver ahead of him was obscured by mud on the rear Windshield and by a Bend in the Road. Higgins slowed and stopped his jeep perhaps to meet someone perhaps to avoid something in the Roadway. And in an instant he was gone. Within is minutes after his disappearance search helicopters took off from in Navura. But by then it was already too late. A Quick trip up the Road to Tyre and a two hour boat trip to West Beirut or a drive across Inland roads known Only to natives and invisible even from helicopters or observation posts and Rich Higgins had vanished forever into the cruel Haze of Lebanon s chaos. West German embassy in Budapest to close Bonn West Germany a the foreign ministry announced sunday that it will close the West German embassy in Budapest Hungary on monday because its capacity to Aid a flood of East German refugees is totally  several Hundred East germans seek ing to emigrate to the West have been holed up for nearly two weeks at the embassy As Well As in West Germany s mis Sions in Prague Czechoslovakia and in East Berlin. Foreign ministry spokesman Claus Wunderlich declined to say How Many East germans were at the embassy in Budapest on sunday but news reports last week said the number was near 300, and More refugees have been arriving each Day. The reception capacity for East Ger Man Asylum seekers at the representation in Budapest is totally exhausted the ministry announced in a statement delivered to news agencies the embassy must therefore be closed for he time being beginning monday aug. 14." the West German government closed its East Berlin Mission on tuesday after 131 East germans sought Refuge there and officials have said it will not be re opened until Normal diplomatic operations can be resumed. East Berlin Mission spokesman Eber hard Grashoff said 10 of the East Ger mans left the facility of their own Accord sunday morning but the others were still camped on the protected Mission grounds. Another Mission employee said those remaining behind feel desperate and trapped in a diplomatic standoff. Both West German and East German officials have advised the refugees to re turn Home and seek Legal Means of Emi grating. East Berlin s leadership has said there will be no reprisals against those who sought West German Refuge and West German authorities have cautioned the Refuge seekers that they need permission from their government to leave for the West. The refugee situation in Budapest has developed this summer in the Wake of Hungary s dismantling of Border barriers with Austria. At least 1,500 East Ger mans Are estimated to have escaped to the West through Hungary since May most of those at the West German embassy in Budapest arc East germans who were allowed to travel to Hungary then attempted to escape to Austria and were caught by hungarian Border guards. The hungarians have in some cases noted the failed escape attempt in the passports of the East germans. Out of fear that they would be punished Back Home the East germans have sought West Germany s Protection. East germans can obtain permission to travel to neighbouring Hungary a War saw pact ally with relative ease whereas applicants for emigration visas often must wait years for an answer. The Hamburg West Germany based newspaper Welt am sonntag disclosed in this week s edition that the West Ger Man intelligence service has determine that 1.5 million East germans want to emigrate to the West or nearly 10 per cent of the 16 million population. West Germany expects about 100,000 East germans to make their Way to Bonn by the end of the year both through Legal emigration and escapes. The recent Rise in escape attempts disbelieved to be grounded in an increasing sense of hopelessness among East Ger mans and the loosening of restrictions in East bloc  neighbouring Hungary and Poland where Market oriented economics and personal freedoms have been Broad ened East German Leader Erich Honecker has Given no ground to Reform pressure