A FAMILY OF TERRORISTS IN LEBANON

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110142-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 5, 2012
• Sequence Number: 142
• Publication Date: February 12, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110142-5
F1_6 -
WASHINGTON POST
12 February 1986
JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATTA
A Family of Terrorists in Lebanon
Among the assorted terrorist groups and
individual assassins carrying out Iran's
undeclared war on the United States, one
murderous family bears a disproportionate share of
responsibility.
The Mussavi clan, based in Lebanon, deserves to
be treated with the same barbaric inhumanity its
members have shown toward the Americans they
have killed. We can't do that, but we can put their
depredations on record, against the day when they
will finally be brought to justice.
One point about the Mussavi clan should be made
clear at the start: Its motives for terrorizing
Americans have less to do with Shiite Moslem
fundamentalism than with plain, old-fashioned
greed. The so-called Islamic revolution merely
gives the Mussavis the protective coloration of
religious fervor as they shoot and bomb their way
to ever-greater power.
In fact, intelligence assessments of the Mussavis'
rapid accumulation of wealth and influence suggest
that they are closer to the Corleone family o e
mod at er than tote dedicated tollowers 551
Mohammed
Over the past three years, from their base in the
Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, the Mussavis
have murdered and kidnaped Americans, leaving at
least 264 dead as a result of their operations.
The Mussavis were responsible for the October
1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks at
Beirut airport in which 241 died. In December
1983 they were peripherally involved in a series of
bombings in Kuwait, which resulted in the arrest
and conviction of 17 conspirators.
Two of the 17 were Lebanese Shiites-both
from the Mussavi clan, according to intelligence
sources. A Mussavi terrorist gang, calling itself
Hezbollah (Party of God), emerged at about that
time and began a wave of kidnaping and hijacking
with one principal goal: release of the 17 prisoners
in Kuwait.
For example, the key demand for release of the
hijacked TWA plane last June and a Kuwaiti airliner
six months earlier was release of the 17 terrorists.
The demands were not met and the hijackings
ended, but three Americans were killed in the two
incidents.
More significantly, last September the Hezbollah
reportedly made a tentative offer of a prisoner
swap: four American hostages for two of the 17
terrorists being held in Kuwait. The two were the
Mussavi clansmen.
The ultimate aim of the Mussavi family seems to
be the creation of an Islamic Republic of Lebanon,
run by pro-Iranian Shiites, of which the Mussavis
would be the most powerful. In a secret meeting
with top Iranian officials, Hussein Mussavi
(code-named Mirhashem) gave a rousing speech
laying out his objectives:
"The reactionary forces of the region," he said,
"either out of fear or for reasons of dependence on
the superpowers, are arming themselves to the
teeth, which is not to the advantage of the Islamic
Republic of Iran. And there is no way that we can
bring them to their knees unless we are able to
inflict relentless blows on them from within. That
is, to neutralize them at every step."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/05: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100110142-5