European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday december 5, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 9corks pop Over report Terry is out by Dave Carpenter the associated press Bells pealed wednesday at a Fleet Street Church As family friends and colleagues worldwide cheered Over a report that Terry Anderson had been freed after More than 6xh years As a hostage in Lebanon. But that report was clouded in confusion later in the Day despite earlier statements from Arab and . Officials that he was safely in syrian army hands. A syrian official said he hoped Anderson would be freed wednesday evening. Anderson the associated press chief Middle East correspondent who has been held by pro iranian shiite Muslim extremists in Lebanon said in a videotaped statement that he was to be freed. The tape released by his captors to the a gave no indication of when he was to go free. The reported release of Anderson who was kidnapped March 16, 1985, followed mondays release of Joseph Cicippio and tuesdays release of Alann Steen both also americans. Louis d. Boccardi president and chief executive officer of the a wrote in a message to the staff a at Long Long last the empty chair at Apps table is once again occupied. Terry Anderson has been set free a through these years of Terry a suffering there has never been a moment when his plight was far from my mind or the minds of our Board or our  a Terry is out a the staff in the Beirut office of the a cried after hearing the first reports of his release. Champagne bottles were uncorked and members of the office staff some in tears toasted Andersons Freedom. Shortly after the report was flashed the a staff decorated Andersons office with multicoloured balloons. Yellow telex tapes that were twisted into a Terry free signs decorated All eight rooms of the Bureau. Colleagues from local and other foreign news organizations crowded into the Bureau to help in the Celebration. At the foreign correspondents club of Japan where Anderson once served As vice president members also uncorked Champagne to Toast his  american hostage Charles Assi of Beirut s a Bureau is doused in Champagne As staffers celebrate Terry Anderson s reported release. A Terry has always occupied a special place in the hearts of our members a David Powers president of the club said in a statement. A on his birthday its been the clubs tradition to raise an empty Glass in Terry a Honor. Tonight those glasses will be  David Waite the brother of Church of England envoy Terry Waite who was freed last month said he was a very very pleased delighted for the family of Anderson. Terry Waite was kidnapped in january 1987 on a Mission seeking Freedom for Anderson and other Western hostages. But he said it was important not to forget those hostages who Arentt from Western nations. A we can to totally rejoice until we know that All people who have been wrongfully detained Are Back with their loved ones a he said. In Jerusalem Israel welcomed the reports and said it hoped now to recover information on its four missing servicemen. As part of piece by piece hostage negotiations since this summer Israel has received news that three servicemen Are dead and has allowed the release of 91 lebanese detainees and the bodies of nine guerrillas. Yossi Olmert director of the government press office said Israel was a very Happy with the news. A if indeed it is True we see this release As another signal that the ordeal of hostages in the Middle East is about to be Over very soon a Olmert said. Israeli officials did not say however whether Israel would reciprocate by releasing any More lebanese detainees. Hostage takers gains remain a mystery Heinrich Struebig 50 Thomas Kemptner 30 two germans who worked Forth easme he mantas Relief group in palestinian refugee Camps near Sidon South Lebanon were kidnapped May 16,1989, by unknown gunmen. It was the second time Struebig had been kidnapped in two weeks. He was freed several hours after the first abduction. A amp group has claimed responsibility. Militia leaders in the area initially said they were held by Radical palestinians linked to Abu Nidal. But they have apparently since been handed Over to shiite extremists seeking the release of two of their men imprisoned in Germany for terrorist crimes. Sas by de Blanche the associated press Damascus Syria what the shiite Muslim hostage takers in Lebanon Are getting in return for freeing their captives apart from promises they wont be hunted Down is not Clear a and May not be for some time. It appears the pro iranian kidnappers have settled for Oral guarantees rather than the reciprocal gestures that had marked previous hostage releases. But the incentives for the flurry of hostage releases since August secured through negotiations led by . Envoy Gia Domemco Picco go beyond the kidnappers themselves to shifting alliances in the Region and a changing Iran. A commentary by Iran a Tehran radio this week said the real includes a pledge that the hostage takers wont be pursued once this chapter in Middle East politics is closed. A some of the terms included in the Deal relate to . Guarantees that the governments whose citizens have been taken will not seek retaliatory actions against the hostage takers a it said. The pattern of releases suddenly changed last month when briton Terry Waite the Church of England envoy who tried to free the hostages and became one himself was freed unconditionally along with american educator Thomas Sutherland. Unlike previous releases no Arab prisoners were first freed by Israel. By cutting the israelis out of the equation Picco made his breakthrough. By All accounts the israelis will release some 300 Arab prisoners they hold including kidnapped shiite cleric Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid in return for a captured airman capt. Ron Arad and verifiable information on the Fate of three other servicemen missing in Lebanon. As for the kidnappers they have plainly found themselves holding a poor nand isolated by the desire of Syria and Iran to improve ties with the West. The kidnappers former allies in Tehran who originally helped establish the shiite militant groups decided the hos analysis Tage Issue had become a Millstone around their necks. Since shiite fundamentalists in Lebanon who formed the cutting Edge of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini a crusade to Humble the West began kidnapping westerners in 1984, efforts by various countries to free their nationals have been dogged by distrust deceit and divergent ideologies. Picco Likely succeeded where others before him failed because the United nations finally got involved. The French germans belgians and others had been prepared to Cut under the table deals to get their people out and it was no secret in Beirut that Large ransoms were paid to the kidnappers As Iran their Mentor secured its own political and economic gains. The Reagan administration was not above some Clandestine dealing As Well despite the presidents Public stand of not bargaining with terrorists. His governments arms for hostages deals got three american captives out but plunged his administration into its gravest Ennis. The kidnappers simply went out and grabbed More americans. The game began to change when Khomeini died in 1989 and his pragmatic lieutenant Hashemi a Sfanjani became president and started building Bridges with the West because he understood that without foreign Aid to boost Iran a Economy the revolution would probably not survive. With the collapse of communism Syria the other major player with 40,000 troops in Lebanon lost its Mentor the soviet Union. President Hafez Assad shrewdly began realigning with the West. To that end he like Iran had to get rid of his outlaw image. Freeing hostages was one Way to achieve that. All this does not mean a moral conversion by any of the parties involved. Its just Good business. Cut your losses and make a Deal. This weeks releases of american hostages came just Days after Washington agreed to repay $278 million to Iran for weapons purchased by the Shah a regime before 1979, when iranian assets Worth billions of dollars were Frozen