The World - News from May 26, 1988

The Reagan Administration discussed a plan in 1985 to send agents to France to abduct the reputed ringleader of the terrorist group Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War) but rejected the proposal out of fear it would anger the French government, National Public Radio reported. Quoting an unnamed U.S. official, the report said the man to be kidnaped was Imad Mughniyeh, who is believed responsible for kidnaping Terry A. Anderson, chief Mideast correspondent for the Associated Press, and for planning the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jet. In the fall of 1985, the CIA learned Mughniyeh was in France and some Administration members advocated seizing him and bringing him to the United States for trial, said the official.