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Tel Aviv (JTA) -- Israeli of-
ficials refused to comment
earlier this week on persis-
tent media reports that
Israel is involved in negotia-
tions for the release of
Western hostages held by
Palestinian or Islamic fun-
damentalist groups in Leb-
anon.
Most of the reports
centered on the possibility
that Israel, prodded by the
United States, might free
Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid in
exchange for Western
hostages.
Obeid, a religious leader of
the Iranian-backed Hez-
bollah movement, was seized
at his home in southern
Lebanon by Israeli comman-
dos last July 28.
He remains incarcerated
in an unidentified Israeli
prison. Most observers
believe he was brought here
so that Israel could bargain
for the release of three
soldiers captured by a Pales-
tinian terrorist group in
Lebanon more than three
years ago.
Obeid is not likely to be
freed for Western hostages if
the Israeli soldiers are not
included in the swap,
sources here say.
Other reports say Israel
has informed Iran it would
allow members of Obeid's
family to visit him in prison
if the International Red
Cross is allowed to visit the
Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.
Reports of prisoner swaps
gained credibility after the
release Sunday of an Ameri-
can hostage, Robert Polhill,
who was held captive in
Lebanon since January
1987.
There have been no indica-
tions of a quid pro quo in his
case. But the Iranians, who
want to improve relations
with the West, would have to
seek some inducement for
the various Islamic funda-
mentalist organizations in
Lebanon that they influence.
Polhill was held by a group
called Islamic Holy War for
the Liberation of Palestine.
There are still 17 Western
hostages in the hands of
such groups, including seven
Americans.
The London newspaper
The Independent published a
report from Beirut on Tues-
day saying that several
hundred Shi'ite Moslems,
held prisoner by the Israeli-
allied South Lebanon Army
in the Khiam detention
camp in southern Lebanon,
were about to be freed as
part of the American
hostage exchange.
There was no comment
from official Israeli quarters.
Israel freed more than 700
Lebanese Shi'ite prisoners
following the release of
hostages taken when an
American airliner was hi-
jacked to Beirut in 1985.
Head Of Health Agency
Fears PLO's Entry
Geneva (JTA) . The head
of the World Health Organ-
ization fears the U.N. agen-
cy will be doomed if the PLO
succeeds in gaining admis-
sion as a sovereign state.
In that event, the United
States will end its financial
contributions to the agency,
which amounts to 25 percent
of the WHO's budget.
The consequences for the
WHO of a U.S. pullout from
the agency would be "a
plague worse than AIDS,"
Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, the
WHO's director general,
said.
The vote on the PLO's ap-
plication for membership
will come up during the
WHO's annual General
Assembly, which opens in
Geneva on May 7.
It was only by very
difficult maneuvering that
the issue was avoided at the
last General Assembly in
May 1989. The delegates
voted by secret ballot to
defer the PLO's application
for one year. The U.S. Con-
gress voted to withdraw U.S.
funding if the PLO is
granted membership.
"If the PLO succeeds, we
might have to close our
headquarters in Geneva,
many people will lose their
jobs and health services will
be cut drastically," said
Nakajima, who is a
Japanese physician.
He pointed out that Pales-
tinians caught in the in-
tifada would be among those
who suffer because they
can't afford health insurance.
But Nakajima said he had
no success trying to explain
the situation to the PLO's
allies.
"But they do not take into
consideration the financial
state. Only the political
decision interests them."