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I ask that an October 11, 1987, article from Editor and Publisher magazine be printed in the Record.
The article follows:
While Secretary of State George Shultz was engaged in final negotiations to secure the release of journalist Nicholas S. Daniloff from the Soviet Union, he was refusing to meet with the sister of another journalist who's been held hostage in Lebanon for 18 months.
Peggy Say told E&P that she sought a meeting with Shultz to discuss the plight of her brother, Associated Press chief Middle Eastern correspondent Terry Anderson, while Shultz was in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly. Anderson has been held captive by the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) since being abducted by gunmen in West Beirut on March 17, 1985.
Say said she was told by Shultz's aides that he was too busy to meet with her.
Shultz did find the time, however, to play tennis with Ivan Lendl while he was in New York City. His tennis match with Lendl was reported on the local TV newscasts.
While Shultz was in New York for the United Nations, he was also finalizing the deal to release Daniloff with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.
Say also has been having difficulty recently in securing meetings with other top administration officials. In the past, she has met with President Reagan and Vice President Bush, although she said it took her over a year to get those meetings.
However, her most recent contacts with the administration have been with lower level White House aides whom she declined to identify.
The State Department's public affairs office would not comment on Say's allegations.
Daniloff, Moscow correspondent of U.S. News & World Report, was arrested August 30 by the Soviets on spying charges. His being taken into custody was regarded as a retaliatory move for the arrest on espionage charges of Gennadi Zhakarov earlier that month in New York by the FBI.
Daniloff's release was secured a month later after intense negotiations, which also saw Zhakarov's return to the Soviet Union.
The Islamic Jihad's stated aim in kidnapping Anderson and several other westerners was to pressure the United States government to in turn pressure Kuwait to release 17 of Jihad's members who were imprisoned for trying to overthrow the monarchy.
The Jihad have executed two of their captives, but they also have released three others--most recently Father Martin Jenco who they said would be the last captive to be let go in a gesture of good will.
The Reagan Administration's position from the time of Anderson's capture has been that it does not negotiate with terrorists.
Say noted that the Islamic Jihad's demand for the release of the 17 held is not necessarily a non-negotiable position.
`By never negotiating, we held them to their original demand. I believe they're ready to settle for something else,' Say stated.
Say said she also recently asked the United States to attempt to contact the Jihad via a letter to be published in Lebanon's newpapers. The administration rejected her request, she said, again on the grounds that they won't negotiate with terrorists.
`In every hostage situation they found a way to deal without having to admit it,' she commented. `There's something very wrong' about the Reagan Administration's refusal in her brother's case, she added.
`Terry's a Marine Corps and Vietnam veteran. He put his ass on the line for this country. I think it's shameful they don't help him.'
In the past, the Associated Press has asked that stories on Anderson leave out references to his military background out of concern it would lead to harsher treatment by his captors. But Say said she learned from Jenco that the Islamic Jihad knows Anderson is a former marine.
Despite getting a cold shoulder from the administration, Say expressed her hope that its successful negotiations for the release of Daniloff will result in public pressure for a similar effort to free her brother.
`We're hoping that kind of (negotiating) effort will take place now,' Say said in a telephone interview. `The administration is under fire from a lot of people right now. I'm getting calls from all over the country from people who are writing their congressman and asking the same question--Why was there never the same effort put forth for these guys (in Lebanon)?'
Say anwered her own question. `Obviously, it was in the political best interests of the U.S. to pursue Daniloff's release. We have no political best interests in Lebanon, and there had been no public outcry.
Say also rejected U.S. contentions that Anderson and the others were being held by some shadowy group and that there was really no one to negotiate with.
`Why don't you ask Terry Waite? He certainly didn't take long to contact them,' she said. Waite is an emissary from the Archbishop of Canterbury who has made several trips to Beirut in an effort to secure the captives' release.
Say, speaking in an October 2 E&P interview, remarked that her brother had steadfastly refused to cooperate with his captive in any way, including in the making of videotapes. She said that refusal resulted in his being treated more severely, but that ultimately his captors `respected him for it.'
However, there is strong indication that Daniloff's release may have embittered Anderson and convinced him to be more cooperative.
On October 3, the Islamic Jihad released a videotape in which Anderson sharply criticized the Reagan administration for ignoring his case while it devoted full-scale diplomatic efforts to the release of Daniloff.
Say, on hearing the videotaped message, told the press her brother `would not have been coerced to say something that is not the truth. I know that whatever Terry said would be what he felt.
On the tape, Anderson protests the `unjust and unfair treatment of our situation.' He criticizes the Reagan administration for its `propaganda and bombast' in announcing the freeing of Daniloff `who had been a prisoner only a short time' and assails its refusal to negotiate in his case.
`How can any official justify the interest and attention and action given that (Daniloff's) case and the inattention give ours,' Anderson stated.
Say's efforts to free her brother have taken her to the Middle East, although not Lebanon itself, and she has met with both Syrian and Cypriot officials who had contacts with Lebanese Shiite groups. Say also met with Margaret Papandreou, the American wife of Greece's prime minister, because she had good relations with Syrian President Hafex al-Assad.
Both Assad and Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal Shiite in Lebanon, have made statements that `they could be helpful' in securing her brother's release, `but they have no incentive,' Say said. `The U.S. did not acknowledge their help in the TWA negotiations and Berri said certain promises to him were not kept.'
Say had high praise for AP, saying the news service `had been terrific to me' in helping her cause. She said AP had paid the cost for all her travels and has been `very supportive emotionally.'
Say works closely with AP Washington bureau chief Charles Lewis, commenting the two meet regularly to work on Anderson's case.
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