I

NEWS

I

ANNIME & COMPANY

School of Dance

* Home of Gold, Silver & Bronze Medalists in Professional Dance Competition
* Special family discounts available * Many College Dance Scholarship Winners
* Special Performance Groups for serious minded dancers

FALL SCHEDULE '91
WITHOUT TUITION INCREASE!

* TAP
* JAll
* BALLET

Beginner
thru Advanced

MORNING,
AFTERNOON
AND
EVENING CLASSES

Pre-School
thru Adult

Classes Begin September 3, 1991

REGISTER EARLY TO SECURE YOUR PLACE IN CLASS

CALL NOW 553-0305

Annette Bergasse, her family and staff of
Annette & Company School of Dance
Wishes All Of Our Students And Friends
A Joyous New Year

28857 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD, FARMINGTON HILLS

The Women of
Maimonides Medical Society

Extend Warm Rosh Hashanah Wishes

May the New Year bring
our members, supporters and
friends in Michian and Israel
the special blessings of peace,
good health and joy.

52

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991

Israel Remains Wary

Of MIA Claims

Tel . Aviv (JTA) — Israeli
officials are reacting with
wariness to new claims from
various Arab groups that
they are holding missing
Israeli soldiers or their
bodies.
The claims appear to be an
attempt by these groups to
recover prisoners held by
Israel as part of an interna-
tional deal involving the
release of Western hostages
held in Lebanon.
One of the latest claims
came last week from the
mainstream Shi'ite Amal
militia in Lebanon, which
said it is holding the bodies
of two Israeli soldiers killed
in a 1982 battle at Khalde,
south of Beirut.
Spokespersons for the
defense establishment said
no Israelis had been reported
missing from any fighting at
Khalde.
However, three of the
seven Israeli soldiers listed
as missing in Lebanon —
Sgt. Zachariah Baumel, Sgt.
Zvi Feldman and Cpl.
Yehuda Katz — were mem-
bers of a tank crew hit dur-
ing a battle with Syrian
forces in Lebanon's Bekaa
Valley in 1982.
Last week, the Hezbollah,
or Party of God, an Iranian-
backed group that operates
in Lebanon, said it was
holding two Israeli prisoners
of war captured in southern
Lebanon in 1986. It would
not give their identities or
say whether they are alive.
If the claim is true, the two
could be Yossi Fink and
Rachamim Alsheikh, mem-
bers of a Givati Brigade unit
captured in Lebanon in
February 1986.
But defense officials said
Israel would not be wooed by
any claims of recovered
Israeli bodies until a
"reliable international
body" has examined the re-
mains to establish whether
they are indeed those of
Israeli soldiers.
In one previous prisoner
exchange, terrorist groups
returned four bodies, three
of which were found in fo-
rensic examinations to be
those of Arabs.
Last week, Israeli officials
warned the public to beware
of a disinformation cam-
paign by Lebanese and Pa-
lestinian groups.
Israel has complained it
has yet to receive authentic
information on the condition
or whereabouts of missing
Israeli servicemen, all the
while it is being pressured to
release some 375 Palestin-

ian security prisoners held
in Israel and southern Leb-
anon, in exchange for the 10
Western hostages being held
in that country.
The missing Israeli soldier
with the best chance of being
alive is Capt. Ron Arad, an
Israeli air force navigator
shot down over Lebanon in
1986 and captured by Amal.
Last week, the head of the
Amal militia, Lebanese Min-
ister of State Nabih Berri,
announced that Amal had
"sold" Capt. Arad to the
Iranian Revolutionary
Guards several years ago.
Israel's chief hostage
negotiator, Uri Lubrani,
confirmed that Capt. Arad is
most probably being held by
the Revolutionary Guards.
But last week, a previously
unknown Shi'ite organiza-
tion calling itself the Sadr
People said in Beirut that it
is willing to release Capt.
Arad, in exchange for infor-
mation on the fate of missing
Shi'ite religious leader
Imam Mousa Sadr, who dis-
appeared in Libya 13 years
ago.
In another surprise an-
nouncement, Hamas, the
Islamic resistance move-
ment in the administered
territories, claimed it is
holding an Israeli soldier
who disappeared within
Israel in 1989.
The group said, in a com-
munique released in Beirut,
that it is holding Israel
Defense Force Cpl. Ilan
Sa'adon and wants to trade
him as part of a general
prisoner exchange.
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir told reporters he
knew nothing about the
report.
The llamas offer marks
the first time a local Pales-
tinian organization has
taken part in the interna-
tional hustle over hostages.
It is also the first time Cpl.
Sa'adon's name has ap-
peared, at least publicly, in
the current negotiations. So
far, only Israeli soldiers
missing in Lebanon have
been on the hostage swap
agenda.
Cpl. Sa'adon was last seen
in the southern part of Israel
on May 3, 1989. After an ex-
tensive manhunt and an in-
vestigation, he was officially
declared a fallen soldier,
burial place unknown.
Local investigations pro-
duced evidence that Cpl.
Sa'adon had been kidnapped
and murdered by two ter-
rorists who gave him a ride
in their car.

N