Dirani, 46, is a prized captive. He is the former security chief of the Amal militia, which nabbed Israeli navigator Ron Arad after his plane was shot down over southern Lebanon in 1986. Israel has been trying to track Arad’s whereabouts ever since – without much luck. A letter and photo of the pilot emerged from Lebanon in 1987; Arad was suffering back and shoulder problems then as a result of his parachute drop. But Dirani later broke ranks with Amal to form his own faction, The Believers Resistance, and he took his valuable hostage with him. Israeli security sources believe Dirani then sold Arad for $250,000 to the Iranian-backed Hizbullah (Party of God), which handed him to Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Israeli intelligence is counting on Dirani for more specific information.
They’d also like to use Dirani as a bargaining chip for Arad’s release. Israel has tried that before: in 1989, Israeli commandos kidnapped Hizbullah cleric Sheik Abdul- Karim Obeid from his home in southern Lebanon. But Arad’s captors didn’t bite; instead, pro-Iranian militiamen announced the killing of U.S. hostage William Higgins. When Israeli gunships killed Hizbullah leader Sheik Abbas Musawi in 1992, Islamic militants responded by bombing the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, killing at least 28 people. ““This is part of the open battle between us and the Israeli enemy,’’ Islamic guerrilla leader Hussein Musawi told Reuters, after Dirani’s capture. In the volatile Middle East, such words are a promise of revenge.
