Three Lebanese Jews Executed in Response to Raids, Group Claims

BEIRUT â€”  A Muslim fundamentalist group claimed Tuesday that it has executed three kidnaped Lebanese Jews in retaliation for Israeli shelling of Lebanese villages.

It accused them of being Israeli spies.

“We announce the execution of God’s judgment on three spies working for the Israeli intelligence (agency) Mossad,� said a hand-written statement delivered to the An Nahar newspaper and signed by the extremist group, the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth.

Attached to the statement were photographs of the men, whom the organization claimed to have kidnaped in mostly Muslim West Beirut in 1985. The group’s statement identified them as Youssef Benesti, Elie Srour and Henri Men.

Could Not Be Verified

The deaths of the hostages could not be independently verified.

The group previously claimed responsibility for kidnaping Benesti and Srour but never mentioned Men until Tuesday. Israel has identified Benesti and Srour as kidnap victims.

The statement accused the three men of collecting information about Islamic groups and feeding it to Israel through an Israeli officer in mostly Christian East Beirut named Shlomo.

The group said it executed the captives in response to recent Israeli shelling of villages in southern and eastern Lebanon and alleged terrorist acts by Israel. It also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the “security zone� in southern Lebanon and the release of all Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

More Deaths Threatened

“If our demands are not fulfilled, not only we will not hand (over) the corpses of these spies, but we will execute the other remaining spies,� the group warned.

The statement did not say how many hostages it holds. Jewish sources in Beirut said that five Jews are missing in Lebanon.

Benesti, Srour and Men lived in a small community of Lebanese Jews in Muslim West Beirut. During the Israeli invasion in 1982, community members refused offers to go to Israel, saying they were Lebanese Jews, not Israelis.

But with the takeover by Muslim militias on Feb. 6, 1984, the community found itself at the mercy of Muslim extremists, and several residents were kidnaped.

Clashes Mar Cease-Fire

In another development Tuesday in Lebanon, a unilateral Shia Amal cease-fire was marred by sporadic exchanges of rocket and machine gunfire around the Chatilla and Borj el Brajne Palestinian camps in the southern suburbs of Beirut. At least five people were killed and 28 wounded, police sources said.