The Lebanon hostage crisis was the kidnapping in Lebanon of 104 foreign hostages between 1982 and 1992, when the Lebanese Civil War was at its height. The hostages were mostly Americans and Western Europeans, but 21 national origins were represented. At least eight hostages died in captivity; some were murdered, while others died from lack of medical attention. During the fifteen years of the Lebanese civil war an estimated 17,000 people disappeared after being abducted. The kidnappers used different names, but the testimony of former hostages indicates that almost all of them were kidnapped by a single group of about a dozen men affiliated with the Hezbollah organization. Particularly important in the organization was Imad Mughniyah. Hezbollah publicly denied involvement. The theocratic government of Iran played a major role in the kidnappings, and may have instigated them. The motive for the hostage-taking was to stop the United States and others from retaliating against Hezbollah for killing 241 Americans and 58 French in the Marine barracks and embassy bombings in Beirut in 1983. The kidnappings and prolonged holding of hostages was also attributed to Iranian foreign policy interests, including a desire to extract concessions from the Western countries, the hostage takers being strong allies of Iran. The tight security measures taken by the perpetrators prevented the rescue of all but a handful of hostages. This, along with public pressure from the media and families of the hostages, led to a breakdown of the anti-terrorism principle of "no negotiations, no concessions" by American and French officials. In the United States, the Reagan administration negotiated a secret arms-for-hostage swap with Iran known as the Iran–Contra affair. The end of the crisis in 1992 is thought to have been precipitated by the need for Western aid and investment by Syria and Iran following the end of the Iran–Iraq War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Hezbollah was promised that it could remain armed following the end of the Lebanese Civil War and that France and America would not seek revenge against it.

Background

The kidnapped victims consisted of 25 Americans, 16 French, 12 British, 7 Swiss, 7 West Germans and 1 Irish man. The hostage takers claimed to belong to obscure organizations such as the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), the Organization for the Defense of Free People (ODFP), the Oppressed of the Earth Organization (OEO), the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine (IJLP), the Revolutionary Justice Organization (RJO), the Organization of Right against Wrong (ORAW), Followers of the Prophet Muhammad (FPM), and the Holy Strugglers for Justice (HJS).

Hostages

With the exception of a few hostages such as CIA Bureau Chief William Francis Buckley and Marine Colonel William Higgins (who were both killed), most were chosen not for any political activity or alleged wrongdoing, but because of the country they came from and the ease of kidnapping. Despite this, they were physically mistreated, repeatedly beaten and subjected to mock executions. Some of the hostages were:

Killed

Escaped or rescued

Perpetrators

Hezbollah, sometimes described as the "umbrella group" of Shia radicalism in Lebanon, is considered by most observers to be the instigator of the crisis. "Analysis of the hostage-crisis in Lebanon yields that Hezbollah was undisputably responsible for the aforementioned abductions of Westerners despite attempts to shield its complicity through the employment of cover-names. Its organisational framework was not only sophisticated and assimilated according to Iranian clerical designs but also closely integrated with several key Iranian institutions which provided it with both necessary weaponry and training to successfully confront self-proclaimed Islamic enemies and invaluable financial support ..." Hezbollah itself, denies the charge, proclaiming in 1987: "We look with ridicule at the accusations of Hezbollah in connection with the abductions of foreign hostages. We consider that is a provocation and hold America responsible for the results." Another source claims that with the exceptions of six Iranian hostages, all the hostages appear to have been seized by groups allied with Iran. The two main operatives of the hostage taking were reported to be Imad Mughniyah, a senior member of the Hezbollah organization, who was described by journalist Robin Wright as the "master terrorist" behind the campaign and Husayn Al-Musawi (also spelled Hussayn al-Mussawi). The village of Ras al-Ein, in the Beqaa Valley of East Lebanon was a place were the victims were held.

Motivations

According to scholar Gilles Kepel "a few of the kidnappings were money-driven or linked to local concerns, but most obeyed a logic whereby Hezbollah itself was no more than a subcontractor for Iranian initiatives". Motivation for the hostage-taking includes: Naccache was freed on 27 July 1990, together with four accomplices, after being pardoned by President François Mitterrand. All five men were put on a plane bound for Tehran. The deal also brought political, military and financial benefits to Iran itself: the release of its frozen assets and desperately needed spare parts for their armaments. The French also kicked out most of the Iranian opposition leaders who had taken sanctuary in their country following the revolution." Three French hostages in Lebanon, Jean-Pierre Kaufmann, Marcel Carton et Marcel Fontaine, had been released by kidnappers on May 4, 1988. France denied reports that the release of Naccache was a repayment for the release of the three French hostages.

Resolution

By 1991, radical Shia operatives imprisoned in Europe had been freed. Islamic Dawa Party members convicted of terrorism in Kuwait had been freed by the Iraqi invasion. There was no need to pressure Western supporters of Iraq because the Iran–Iraq War was over. It was pretty well established that the four missing Iranians were no longer alive. More importantly Iran was in need of foreign investment "to repair its economy and infrastructure" after the destruction on the border areas in the Iran–Iraq War, and Syria needed "consolidation of its hegemony over Lebanon" and to obtain Western aid to compensate for the loss of Soviet support following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Syria was actively pressuring Hezbollah to stop the abductions and a February 1987 attack by Syrian troops in Beirut that harassed members of Hezbollah was in part an expression of Syrian irritation with the continued hostage-taking. Hezbollah had guarantees from Syria that despite the end of the Lebanese Civil War, it would be allowed to remain armed, while all other Lebanese militias would be disarmed, on the grounds that Hezbollah needed its weapons to fight Israeli occupation in the South. This combination of factors created a setting whereby UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar and his personal envoy, Giandomenico Picco (served on the Board of Governmental Relations for the American Iranian Council), could negotiate "a comprehensive resolution to the hostage-crisis". By December 1991, Hezbollah had released the last hostage in return for Israel's release of imprisoned Shi'ites.

Timeline

1982

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

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