Prime-Time Terrorism

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Whether Berri could deliver the hostages was another matter. He admitted that he did not have direct control of the six passengers who were taken off the plane early in the crisis, merely an "honor promise" that they would be freed when Israel released its prisoners. The status of the separate group added a chilling dimension to the drama. At first it was reported that they had been taken because of their "Zionist connections." A TWA stewardess, Uli Derickson, said the hijackers examined the passengers' passports and picked out those with "Jewish-sounding names." But Berri told CBS that "it is not true that they took them because they have Jewish names. They are Americans, like the others." U.S. officials now believe that some of the group were singled out for a different, though equally ominous reason: they carried U.S. Government or military passports. All remain segregated, their whereabouts a mystery. There was widespread speculation that the original hijackers were holding them with the help of Hizballah, or Party of God, a radical, pro-Khomeini fringe group that has been held responsible for several suicide bombings.

It may be a positive sign that Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the leader of Hizballah, told the Washington Post that he would press Berri to release all the hostages. But U.S. officials fear that the missing hostages will be used as an insurance policy against any cave-ins by Berri, who is regarded by some extremists as too secular and too Western. Berri almost admitted as much. "They are under the control of the hijackers because maybe they don't trust me too well," he told CBS. "But I have their word."

In order to resolve the crisis before it escalated any further, some mid- level State Department officials had wanted to give Israel a shove, but Secretary of State Shultz was adamant: no concessions by the U.S., and no pressure on Israel to give in. The President agreed with Shultz. At the very first National Security Council meeting on the crisis, he told aides: "Don't encourage others to do what we don't do."

The Israelis took umbrage at what they perceived to be public pressure in the U.S. for them to free the Shi'ite prisoners. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin angrily declared that Israel would not negotiate the release without a direct request from Washington. Prime Minister Peres declared that Israel would never "surrender to terrorism" (see box).

In its search for a solution, the U.S. also thought of using the International Committee of the Red Cross as a possible intermediary. But the Red Cross, whose access to battlefields and disaster scenes depends on strict neutrality, protested that it is a humanitarian relief organization, not a political agency. Red Cross officials declined to mediate between Israel and Amal, though they stood ready to provide logistical support in the event of a prisoner exchange.

The U.S. sought out and received offers of help from Switzerland, Austria and Sweden. The Swiss government volunteered to make the airports in Geneva and Zurich available for a swap. At the United Nations, Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar called the hijackers "cowards" and offered U.N. mediation. The U.S. also appealed to Algeria and even the Soviet Union to use their influence to persuade Berri to release the hostages. If the Americans are freed, Shultz assured foreign governments, Israel would free its detainees.