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Iran Hopes Geagea
May Contribute Information
February 7, 2004
Iran's foreign minister
Kamal Kharazi says he
hopes jailed Lebanese
Forces commander Samir
Geagea would contribute
useful information to
reveal the fate of four
Iranian diplomats who
went missing in Lebanon
during Israel's 1982 occupation
of Beirut. "President
Lahoud has assured me
that Mr. Geagea will be
formally asked to give
any information he possess
about the affair,"
Kharazi told a news conference
with which he wound up
a three-day visit to Beirut
on Friday.
Geagea took the LF command
in 1985 after a power
struggle with Elie Hobeika,
who was the LF security
chief when his militiamen
seized the four diplomats
at a highway checkpoint
in northern Lebanon as
they were fleeing occupied
Beirut to neighboring
Syria via Lebanon's north
port city of Tripoli early
in July of 1982. Kharazi
said he had stressed in
his talks with President
Lahoud and Hizbullah Secretary-General
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
that the affair of the
missing Iranians should
be a focal point in the
second stage of prisoners
swap between Hizbullah
and Israel under German
auspices. Authorities
in Tehran are convinced
that the four missing
diplomats are alive in
Israel despite Israel's
repeated denials that
it holds them, Kharazi
said.
He also asserted that
Iran would do its best
to help determine thefate
of missing Israeli airman
Ron Arad, although Iran
isnot officially a party
to the swap negotiations.
"Concerning Mr. Arad,
I confirm that if we have
any information we will
exert maximum efforts
to help in thismatter,
but I would also like
to say that the main sides
of these negotiations
are Hizbullah and the
Germans," said Kharazi.
"No one knows where
Arad is and in which country
he is," Kharazi said,
adding that Nasrallah
is determined to try find
out what happened to Arad.
In return for satisfactory
information on Arad, Israel
would release Samir Kantar,
Lebanon's longest-held
prisoner in Israel.
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