'Quiet diplomacy' of Secretary-General pays off with release of hostages, prisoners.

A long-standing, intensive process of "quiet diplomacy" by Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and his top aide on this matter paid off with the release of three Western hostages held in Lebanon, the release by Israel of 51 Lebanese prisoners and the return of the remains of nine Lebanese.

British journalist John McCarthy, detained for five years, was released on 8 August. Edward Tracy, a United States citizen held for nearly five years, was released on 11 August. Another British hostage, Jack Mann, was released on 24 September after 28 months of captivity.

On 11 September, Israel released 51 prisoners, some of whom had been held for a number of years, and turned over the bodies of nine Arab guerrillas.

On 11 August, the Secretary-General met in London with Mr. McCarthy, who delivered a letter to him from the "Islamic Jihad", which promised to release all detainees within 24 hours if the Secretary-General would make "a personal endeavour, within a comprehensive solution", to secure the release of all detainees throughout the world.

The Secretary-General called the release of both Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Tracy "expressions of goodwill". He observed: "My duty now is to maintain my efforts with the cooperation of all countries directly or indirectly concerned." He was, he said, fully committed to doing his best "until the end, in order to totally solve this humanitarian problem".

Situation reviewed

Mr. Perez de Cuellar went from London to Geneva where he met with high-ranking Israeli officials on 14 August to discuss the hostage situation. He described the initial Israeli response as "rather positive", and added that the Israeli Foreign Minister had promised to help as much as possible.

On 12 August, the Secretary-General held a two-hour discussion on the hostage situation with Iranian Ambassador Kamal Kharrazi. Afterwards, he said Iran was trying to use its influence with different groups to obtain the freedom of hostages.

On 13 August in Geneva, the Secretary-General said that there was a basis for a swap between Israel and Lebanon with regard to hostages and detainees. The positions of both sides were known and it was up to him to bridge the gap. The Secretary-General said: "They are apart, but not that far apart. It is not an ocean, I would say a river."

In September, the Secretary-General, in discussing the hostage situation, said the UN was dealing with several groups, and negotiations were not easy. He hoped that he would be able to resolve the matter of hostages and detainees before he left office.

On 25 September, after the release of Jack Mann, the top aide to the Secretary-General on this matter said the Lebanese groups in touch with the UN had indicated "their determination to pursue their cooperation with the Secretary-General", and the fact that Mr. Mann had been released was "proof of the level of that cooperation".

On 27 September, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati said in a press conference in New York that Iran was fully committed to cooperating in the hostage negotiation process. The release of Lebanese abducted from southern Lebanon by Israel would contribute to the comprehensive hostage-release process.