Word: laingen
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American hopes of isolating the self-described "students" from the political leadership may have been unexpectedly advanced by a week-long tug of war over U.S. Chargé d'Affaires L. Bruce Laingen, who has been held at the Foreign Ministry since the embassy takeover. Two weeks ago, the militants had imperiously demanded that Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh send Laingen to the embassy for questioning about alleged "documents of espionage...
...Seeing Laingen as an important liaison for possible future negotiations with Washington and anxious to shore up his own authority, Ghotbzadeh shrewdly referred the matter to Khomeini. Despite the entreaties of a student delegation that visited Qum, Khomeini maintained his silence-thereby tacitly backing his Foreign Minister and the Revolutionary Council, which had originally decided to "harbor" Laingen and two U.S. aides. Said a Ghotbzadeh aide with satisfaction: "I guess we have given the students an idea where the line should be drawn...
Indeed, shortly after Waldheim left Tehran, the hostages' situation turned more ominous. The militants at the U.S. embassy demanded that Ghotbzadeh hand over to them U.S. Chargé d'Affaires L. Bruce Laingen, who has been held by the government at the Foreign Ministry. In a letter to Ghotbzadeh, the students said that Laingen "must provide some explanations about documents of espionage discovered in the nest of spies." In addition, the students announced that if the hostages are tried, Vietnamese representatives will be invited to attend. They claimed that one of the hostages, Air Force Lieut. Colonel David...
Charged' Affaires Laingen, the top U.S. diplomat in Iran, has been at the Foreign Ministry with two embassy colleagues since the militants seized the American embassy November...
Last week, the militants called on the ministry to turn over Laingen to them for questioning about alleged espionage operations at the embassy. Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh asked Khomeini to make the decision, but the ayatollah so far has been silent on the question...