Hostage History: From the Levant to Latin America

By Michael Kraft

Thousands of miles away and three decades apart, the rescue of hostages in Colombia and the killing of Israeli hostages by Lebanese terrorists have some unexpected links as well profound differences.

Barring last minute glitches, the Israelis are expected within a week to release five terrorists, including the notorious Samir Kuntar, who bashed a four year old girl to death, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli Army reservists who were taken hostage by Hezbollah in a cross border raid two years ago that touched off a major conflict.

In my op-ed in today's Washington Times I describe a previous attempt to free Kuntar; the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro and the murder of a wheel-chair bound American passenger. The murder of the American, Leon Klinghoffer prompted the passage of a major U.S. counterterrorism law that conceivably could be used against the Colombian kidnappers.

The dramatic rescue in Colombia last week of Ingrid Betancourt, a former candidate for the Colombian presidency, and three American hostages as well as 14 Colombians also involved more than what was noticeable on the surface. The rescue operation was planned and carried out by Colombian Forces and they deserve full credit for pulling off an audacious operation without loss of life. The ability to stage that complex operation, however, was not developed overnight. The Colombians have been improving their military and civilian capabilities over many years, both with determination on their part and some assistance from friendly countries.

The Colombian rescue operation is in some ways reminiscent of another daring Latin American operation, Peru’s April 22, 1997 rescue of 71 hostages held in the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence by the leftist Tupac Amur terrorist group. All 14 rebel captors were killed. One captive, Supreme Court Justice Carlos Giusti, and two Peruvian soldiers also died. Twenty-five hostages were injured. An elite Peruvian force conducted the operation. The U.S. had previously provided training assistance to Peruvian units and officials but was not involved in the operation.

The current Colombian operation was similar. The Washington Post yesterday described it more details that included a discussion of the U.S. assistance to the Colombian government. The rescue operation was conducted and planned by the Colombians. Americans did not take part directly in the operation, learning of it only after planning had begun, according to the Post. The U.S., however provided intelligence and other logistical help.

The assistance was part of “Plan Colombia,” which was developed in 1999 by Colombian and U.S. officials as a $4 billion dollar program to counter the narcotics trafficking and terrorism that was rampant in the country. Most, although not all of the problems came from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which began in the 1960’s as the military wing of the Colombia communist party but turned into a terrorist group deeply involved in kidnappings for ransom and drug trafficking.

The US aid, running about $660 million a year, includes a relatively small amount, ($3.3 million in FY 2008) to training for officials under the State Department’s Antiterrorism Training Assistance Program (ATA), especially for the anti-kidnapping units known as Unified Groups for Personal Liberty (GAULA). State Department officials said they understood that GAULA units were not directly involved in this month’s rescue operation but the group has had an impact in reducing additional kidnappings. The number of abductions has fallen sharply, from 3,572 in 2000 to 521 last year, according to Colombian officials. The GAULA training has progressed to the point that its nearly self sustaining and Colombia has begun providing training assistance to some neighboring Latin American countries.

The Colombians also have received intelligence and other assistance from an Israeli security company owned by former Israeli generals according to recent press reports. Israel also reportedly provides Colombia with light arms and drones.

Another link exists, although more in the legal arena, between the Colombians and Israelis.

The Israeli saga began in 1979 when Kuntar, and three other members of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) landed on an Israeli beach and took hostage at a nearby house a young father and his four-year-old daughter. They fatally shot the father and afterwards Kuntar killed the girl by bashing her head against the rock. Her two year-old sister was accidentally smothered when her mother tried to quiet her while hiding in their apartment.

In October, 1985 a group of four PLF terrorists led by Abu Abbas boarded the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro with the intention of disembarking in an Israeli port and seizing Israeli hostages to trade for Kuntar. Their game plan was quickly changed when a ship’s steward discovered the men with guns in their cabin. The terrorists then seized the ship. Before the passenger liner eventually docked in Alexandria Egypt, Abu Abbas brutally threw overboard Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly American who was confined to a wheel chair.

The Klinghoffer murder prompted the U.S. Justice Department to propose a so-called “long arm statute” that makes it a crime punishable in American courts to commit an act of terrorism against American persons or property overseas. A Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Vicki Toensing spearheaded the effort and Senator Arlan Spector (R-Pa) sponsored it in the Senate. On the House side, Justice Department officials and I, in my State Department counterterrorism legislative hat, persuaded the House Foreign Affairs Committee to tag it onto a pending State Department Bill. Congress enacted the measure (18 U.S. Code 2332) as part of the Omnibus Antiterrorism Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986. (Public Law 99-399.)

The law requires the Attorney General to first make a determination that the attack on American persons or property was a terrorist act rather than one of ordinary crime or financial gain. The 1986 legislation also opened the way for the FBI and Justice Department to permanently post large numbers of agents and legal attaches overseas in order to more effectively conduct investigations. Currently there are posts in 58 countries.

The law has been used to good effect by the Justice Department. High profile cases, including Moussoui Zacarias for the 9/11 attacks, Richard Reid the shoe bomber and John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban, and earlier this month, Abd al Al-Rahim for the attack on the USS Cole in the Yemen port of Aden.

If and when the Colombian terrorists who captured and held the three American contractors are caught and are not tried in Colombian courts, they could be tried in the U.S. under 18 US.2332 which was prompted by the Achille Lauro hijacking and the Abu Abbas efforts to free a captured terrorist who kidnapped and killed Israelis.

There are major differences of course between the Colombian and Israeli situations. The Colombians and Americans were held for five years in deep jungles. The two Israeli hostages, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were captured by Hezbollah forces who staged an unprovoked cross border raid into Israel two years ago. The attack touched off major fighting between Israeli and Hezbollah forces, causing significant casualties on both sides, major damage in Lebanon and Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.
It is not known how soon the two reservists died after they were captured.

The Colombian rescue attempt was widely applauded. The planned Israeli swap of live prisoners for bodies of killed servicemen is controversial. It has divided the country between those who feel that fallen soldiers should be brought home and those who feel such deals will encourage even more hostage taking. Long standing U.S. policy is not to make such deals that reward hostage takers. I believe it is a sound one in the long run even though it is painful for the families involved as well as government officials.

It also is disgusting to see Kuntar being hailed as a hero by some Arabs, with banners reportedly decorating Sidon, Lebaon declaring: " Freedom to the hero." Some hero. He brutally murdered a toddler and indirectly prompted passage of a law that has been used against other terrorists.

Hostage taking is a despicable act, cruel to the hostages and to their loved ones. As the G8 summit said in its counterterrorism summit statement, which I reported in a blog item yesterday:
“Abductions and the taking of hostages are repugnant practices to be strongly condemned.”

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