Kidnap A Soviet? Well . . . Shiite Moslems Tried It In Lebanon - Once For people whining about CIA treatment of terror suspects, heres what Russia does (from a 1988 article) ... In late September 1985, pro-Iranian Shiites put the snatch on four attaches from the Russian Embassy in Beirut and warned that the hostages would be executed, one by one, unless the Soviets persuaded pro-Syrian militiamen to stop shelling Hezbollah strongholds in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli. On that occasion, the Oppressed of the Earth were billing themselves as agents of the hitherto unknown Islamic Liberation Organization, but the KBG had no doubts about who they really were. Although the Soviets attempted to open channels for quiet negotiations, there was no let-up in the shellings. Only two days after the kidnappings, the body of one of the four hostages was found, shot through the head, on a Beirut trash dump. So much for quiet negotiations. Having gotten the message, the Soviets decided to send one back. KGB agents ran the name of a prominent Hezbollah leader through their computers and came up with the name and address of one of his closest blood relatives. They then kidnapped the kinsman, castrated him, and sent his severed organs to the Hezbollah honcho. The package was accompanied by a terse cover note indicating that the KGB had the names of other close relatives and that Hezbollah could expect more such deliveries unless the three remaining hostages were freed forthwith. It didnt take much time for Hezbollah to realize it was dealing with a different breed of Great Satan. The three surviving hostages were dropped off only 150 yards from the Soviet Embassy from a late-model BMW that couldnt drive away fast enough. Gorbachev didnt call a press conference to brag about what bad-asses his boys were, but Hezbollah obviously concluded that challenging the Russians could lead to more painful consequences than simply losing face. Its worth noting that this was the last anyone ever heard of the Islamic Liberation Organization. By not-so-remarkable coincidence, it was also the last time Hezbollah ever messed with any Soviets in Lebanon.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:49:45 +0000
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