Word: obeid
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...rapid movement provoked by Israel's kidnaping of Shi'ite Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid has given way to a lengthy process of public posturing and private dickering. Israel offered the Shi'ites a simple swap: your guys (Obeid and 150 Shi'ite prisoners) for our guys (three captured Israeli soldiers), plus the 15 Westerners held hostage. But Jerusalem's agenda is not interchangeable with Washington's: while Israel would probably jump at a deal returning its prisoners, even without the foreign hostages, it would reject any that did not bring home its three soldiers...
...hours, there was cautious optimism at the White House that diplomatic efforts were paying off. That mood was sorely tested on Thursday morning, when the kidnapers turned the screws further with the release of a videotape in which Cicippio read a statement urging quick action for the release of Obeid. The tape ended with Cicippio painfully bidding farewell to his wife. But just 45 minutes before he was due to be executed, Hizballah lifted its death threat indefinitely, though with the condition that it was now seeking release of further prisoners...
...wants released, then issued a statement claiming to have "nothing at all to do with the hostage issue." Even so, Israeli officials interpreted the decision not to execute Cicippio as proof that their gamble was paying off, and that the kidnapers would ultimately agree to a deal for Obeid's release. Cicippio's captors credited the stay of execution to the intervention of "certain parties and countries," a sign that Washington's overtures to Iran might not be falling on deaf ears as in the past...
...saying Iran had refused a Bush message about the hostages sent via a third country. "Since the content had nothing to do with Iran," the news agency quoted the official as saying, "the message was not accepted." Tehran's denials were contradicted by an Israeli intelligence report claiming that Obeid had confessed that Hizballah's terrorist activities were directed by the Iranian embassies in Beirut and Damascus...
...help in the hostage situation. When Hizballah leaders went to Tehran several weeks ago to express their condolences over Khomeini's death, they reported directly to Rafsanjani. He is believed to have dispatched his own men to Lebanon to bring into line pockets of Hizballah, including those loyal to Obeid, that still support Mohtashami...