I NEWS I From Italy: Exquisite Collection in 18 kt. Gold and Diamonds Will Israel Swap Sheik To Release Hostages? JEWELERS 855-1730 32940 Middlebelt Rd. (At 14 Mile Rd., in the Broadway Playa) Custom Designed Jewelry to Your Taste HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 10-6 Thurs. 10-8, Sat. 10-5 ir z l "Grand Slam Opening" Q IF Duplicate Bridge Wednesday Afternoons, 12:30 p.m. Beginning May 2, 1990 Game Director Eve Berk Coordinator Lillian Goodman Want to brush up or learn? Bridge lessons Monday mornings 10-12:00 Beginning May 7, 1990 at Temple Israel 5725 Walnut Lake Road West Bloomfield, Ml Reservations Necessary — Call 661-5700 Sponsored by Temple Israel 'Sisterhood 24 FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1990 Window Treatments, Fabric by-the-yard, Nettle Creek Boudoir Furniture. . 30% OFF 4/30/90, Last Day to Order! 4 7) ea4tIS S HOUSE OF BEDSPREADS 999 S. Hunter, Birmingham Mon: Sat. to 6; Thurs. to 9 • 644-5646 • 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."