Oregon daily emerald., January 20, 1981, Image 1

daily Emerald
Vol. 82, No. 82
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Tuesday, January 20, 1981
Money snarl keeps hostages waiting
Carter, aides continue working
to pull out a last-minute release
WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than six
hours before Ronald Reagan was to
become U S. president, the 52 American
hostages in Iran endured another delay
as negotiators wrangled over financial
details in the agreement completed
Monday.
However, the main difficulty holding up
the hostages’ release was resolved early
Tuesday morning, White House press
secretary Jody Powell announced at 1
a m. PST.
Pres. Jimmy Carter was informed that
the frozen Iranian assets had been
transferred to the Federal Reserve ac
counts in London and Washington as the
first step in the process of transferring
the estimated $8 billion to the Iranian
government, Powell said.
The agreement next must be signed by
American, British and Algerian officials.
The funds will then be transferred to an
escrow account set up for the Iranian
government.
After the Iranians have been assured
the money is in the account, the hos
tages will be released, Powell said.
The last-minute snarl centered around
an Iranian claim that U S. banks had
added an 11-page appendix that would
require Iran to give up some of its finan
cial claims. The sticking point had to do
with ambiguities in "calculating amounts
of interest due on various accounts,"
Powell said.
Regarding the proposal to undo the
snag, Powell said it was drafted by a
British lawyer for the Iranian central
bank. Before the document could be
approved, the United States had to wait
for word the Iranians had accepted the
draft, as well as for the wording of the
proposal itself.
"As we understand, it is is an accep
table solution to this problem,” said
Powell. "It may also be the last chance
that we have in this administration to
work things out.”
Late Monday night, Behzad Nabavi,
the chief Iranian negotiator, said his
government would set a deadline for U S.
banks to transfer the assets to the Bank
of England.
Powell said “I don’t think there’s an
ything to be gained by commenting” on
Nabavi’s threat.
The announcement of the breakth
rough came after a meeting of U S. of
ficials at the office of Treasury Secretary
G. William Miller, talking by telephone to
the U.S. team that was working in Algiers
to try to clear the last hurdle.
Carter spent his last hours in the Oval
Office, waiting and talking with his long
time Georgia friends, including Hamilton
Jordan and Charles Kirbo.
Preparations for the inauguration of
the 40th president of the United States
continued. At 9 a m. PST, to the peal of
bells, then a cannon salute, Reagan will
become the oldest man ever sworn to the
office.
Earlier, Powell said the Reagan ad
ministration would be bound by the hos
tage agreement only if it is completed
with release of the captives before
Reagan is sworn to office.
Otherwise, Powell said, the new pre
sident would be free to act as he sees fit.
"We have made it very clear that there
was no obligation to adopt the previous
negotiating position,” Powell said.
However, in a gesture to the outgoing
president, Reagan asked Carter to be his
envoy to greet the American hostages,
no matter when they are released.
Carter, for whom the hostages may have
been the main issue of his presidency,
accepted Reagan’s offer.
In addition, Reagan ordered formation
of a team from the National Security
Council and the departments of State,
Defense, Treasury and Justice to help
smooth the transition in hostage
developments.
Related stories on Page 5
Students express relief, anger
at Iranian hostage agreement
University students greeted the news
of the apparent break in the hostage
crisis with mixed reactions Monday.
Relief, anger and revolutionary rhetor
ic were all in the air as word spread that
the hostages soon will be leaving Iran.
Tom Peters,a senior in religious
studies, said he had a feeling of “in
credible relief” upon hearing that the
hostages might be coming home. “I’m
just glad we managed to get them
released without going to war," he said
David Turney, a sociology major, said
the returning hostages might just "save
Carter’s ass.”
Another sociology .major, Nancy Whit
ley, is disappointed that the hostages
could be home in a few days
“I'm upset they didn't go on trial," she
said
John Kaiser, a Revolutionary Com
munist Youth Brigade member, ex
pressed similar sentiments.
He said the hostages should be tried
and their true professions should be
revealed to the world. Kaiser claims that
most of the hostages were working for
the CIA at the time of the embassy
takeover more than 14 months ago.
He said hostage Thomas Ahern was
working at the embassy as a “narcotics
control coordinator" but was actually a
CIA officer with a Belgian passport.
Tooraj Fooladi, Iranian Student Union
representative, says he has mixed
feelings about the hostages. He said he’s
glad the American captives are being
released because “all along, the
religious sector of the government was
using the hostages to divert the Iranian
people’s attention away from the internal
turmoil” of Iran
But Fooladi also claimed there are
spies among the hostages who should
have been tried He accused Victor
Tomseth, a former Springfield resident,
of being one of the spies.
Bart Jones, a journalism major, also
was disappointed about the way the
crisis was resolved.
“I’m mad because I wanted to see
Reagan blow the hell out of Iran."
a
Although U S. Deputy Secretary
of State Warren Christopher
(below, right with a interpreter),
signed a final agreement Sun
day in Algiers for the release of
the hostages, minor money
snags kept the 52 Americans in
Iran. A banner near the USAF
base in West Germany is ready
to greet the hostages with
"Welcome home, it's been a
long time. Now we can smile "
"
AP Laserpohotos