When the Syrian army entered West Beirut last February to end the anarchical rule of the militias, the first thing it did was urge the return of Westerners who had fled three years of kidnapings.
Few took up the invitation. One who did was Charlie Glass, a seasoned Beirut reporter who understood the situation in Lebanon as well as anyone.
He would have known that although the Syrians had taken firm control of the heart of West Beirut, they had not pacified the Shiite-controlled southern suburbs, where most of the 22 foreign hostages are believed to be held.
He would have realized, therefore, that Syrian promises to provide security for Westerners could not have extended to that hotbed of Islamic extremism, unarguably the most dangerous square mile in the world for an American.
So it surprised no one when, last Wednesday, 14 gunmen set upon him as he drove through those suburbs, bundled him into the trunk of a car and whisked him away. It was a classic Beirut kidnaping, efficiently accomplished and chillingly inevitable.
There has been considerable speculation as to why Glass might have been seized. Perhaps it was to prevent him from testifying at the trial of TWA hijacker Mohamed Ali Hamadi in Bonn, whom Glass confronted during the 1985 hijacking, or perhaps to put pressure on the U.S. government in the midst of mounting tensions in the Persian Gulf.
But the Iranian-controlled radicals presumably holding Glass hardly needed another American hostage; they already had eight. And there were 153 passengers as well as crewmembers aboard the hijacked plane who could identify Hamadi as easily as Glass.
All that can be said with certainty is that any American who wanders into those suburbs is in mortal danger, which Glass`s abduction proves beyond doubt, if there was any doubt. Beirut reporters say they are sure Glass is the first American to set foot there voluntarily in months–at least since three American professors were kidnaped Jan. 24, prompting the U.S. ban on travel to Lebanon.
So the only thing surprising about this latest in a long line of Beirut abductions was that Glass should have allowed it to happen at all.
He was writing a book on Lebanon, a project he had begun since the rise of Islamic fundamentalism had made the country a no-go area for Americans.
Judging by his movements in the days before he disappeared, Glass was feeling confident. He had asked a British colleague, Julie Flint, if he could accompany her later in the week to the Palestinian refugee camps in the suburbs, but she had refused, saying it was too dangerous for an American.
He had spent last Tuesday night drinking at his favorite haunt, Back Street, which had been popular with Westerners until two foreigners were kidnaped there last year and later killed. He had stayed until 2 a.m. and then had driven 20 miles south to the city of Sidon–something few Lebanese would have considered at that time of night in the prevailing political uncertainty. He clearly had hoped that his unrivaled network of contacts with senior officials in Lebanon and other influential people there would have afforded him special immunity.
At the time of his kidnaping, he was driving with Ali Osseiran, the son of Defense Minister Adel Osseiran. And Glass had been staying at the Osseiran family home in Sidon, a town that has not yet been secured by the Syrians.
He also had been a frequent house guest of special presidential adviser Hani Salam, who lives in relatively safe Christian East Beirut.
There had been a feeling that the kidnapings might be over, at least for the time being.
When the Syrians moved into Beirut, they initially planned to also enter the suburbs and disarm the Shiites. But they suddenly backed off, after frantic negotiations in Damascus with Iranian envoys and lengthy, personal telephone calls between Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Syrian President Hafez Assad.
Syrian sources in Beirut spoke of a moratorium on kidnapings, a deal between the Syrians and the Iranians whereby the Syrians would leave the southern suburbs alone and not interfere in the hostage issue in return for Iranian guarantees not to compromise Syria`s pledge to make Beirut safe.
As a result, other American journalists besides Glass had begun contemplating swift trips back to Beirut, according to Middle East
correspondents. Last week, at least one had slipped across the Green Line separating Christian and Moslem Beirut, but returned hastily to the Christian sector. The rest have now changed their minds, the correspondents said.
There has been no word yet on Glass` whereabouts. It usually takes at least a week for the kidnapers to make a claim; sometimes there is no claim. In the meantime, Glass has vanished into the black hole of Lebanon`s kidnaping circuit, from which few have been fortunate to return.
There may yet be hope. The Syrians reportedly are furious that their authority should be so blatantly flaunted–Glass` abduction occurred just 350 yards from a Syrian roadblock.
Damascus has 7,000 troops stationed in West Beirut and this provocation may trigger a long-awaited confrontation between the Syrians and the fundamentalists.
Ali Osseiran insisted on being kidnaped along with Glass, even though the abductors tried to fight him off. So the defense minister has been brought to the forefront of the search for the missing pair. Although Osseiran is a Shiite, he is a moderate with little influence over the radicals.
A friend pointed out that Glass also had made contact with the radical Shiite religious leader Sheik Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah, whose chief bodyguard, Imad Mugniyeh, masterminded the TWA hijacking and most, if not all, of the kidnapings. But Terry Anderson, the bureau chief for Associated Press in Beirut, also knew Fadlallah well, and the correspondent has been in captivity for over two years now.
In a telephone interview from Beirut last week, Julie Flint said of Glass` militia contacts: ”They`ve gone to the beach. They`re not doing anything. One phoned me to say he was sorry.”
She, like many others who know Beirut, finds it hard to be optimistic. Beirut`s kidnaping thugs are not known for their charity. Few Lebanese would dare go out of their way to help an American.
While Glass` status as an American made him a prime candidate for a kidnaping, his fame as a Beirut correspondent made him an even bigger catch, Flint pointed out. His award-winning coverage of the TWA hijacking and his many exclusive interviews with the hostages from the plane made his a familiar name among kidnaping circles.
There must always be hope, however slim, in the first hours and even days after a kidnaping. Mistakes have been made, and a victim has been discreetly freed. Kidnapers have had a change of heart or, in a few cases, a victim has managed to escape from his abductors.
It is when the Polaroid picture arrives, furtively delivered to a news agency in the dead of night and accompanied by a long, poorly written statement ranting against the ”Great Satan America and its spies,” that hope runs out.
