(4 of 8)
Behind the scenes, the Administration was working in a crisis mode. In private Bush described himself as going through "the most difficult time of my presidency," and by week's end the strain in his face was pronounced. To save Cicippio, the State Department set up a round-the-clock hostage task force, while the White House launched a diplomatic rescue effort that one U.S. envoy called "a full-court press on everybody we know." Characteristically, the President worked the phone with the heads of state of most European allies and nations in the Middle East -- with the notable exception of Syria's Hafez Assad, whom Bush does not trust.
Bush was also considering a military response. About three dozen U.S. warships were dispatched toward Lebanon and Iran. Iran was notified that as the paymaster of the Hizballah, it would be held responsible if any American hostages were harmed. Through a variety of conflicting leaks, the Administration let it be known that if Cicippio was killed, the President was prepared to order an air strike against suspected terrorist bases.
But Tehran was being offered carrots as well as sticks. Through acquaintances like Algerian President Chadli Bendjedid, Bush offered the possibility of a "constructive relationship" with Iran. The U.S. overtures to Iran went "well beyond the current situation with the hostages," said a senior White House official. Another official said that once the hostage crisis is settled, the U.S. will be willing to discuss renewed "trade and commerce," as well as possibly freeing $4 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The Administration insists it is not offering to trade for the hostages in violation of U.S. policy, the trap that Ronald Reagan fell into. "We can offer ((the Iranians)) better opportunities with the West, but we're not going to hold out anything specific," said a White House official.
When Cicippio's captors extended the deadline for his execution by 48 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.
Bush's strongest card with the Iranians may be his contacts with Algeria, whose intercession helped win the release of the American hostages in the U.S. embassy in Iran. Algeria's Ambassador to Beirut, Khaled Hasnawi, helped negotiate the stay of execution, using Algerian intelligence officers as his mediators with the kidnapers.
Hizballah later named five prisoners held in Israel that it 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.