DATE=2/8/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS
NUMBER=5-45401
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=LONDON
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Special British negotiating teams are in non-
stop talks with hijackers holding about 150 hostages
aboard an Afghan airliner outside London. The
negotiators say they will talk for as long as it takes
to end the crisis peacefully. In London,
Correspondent Laurie Kassman spoke with an expert on
hostage negotiations about the special skills needed
to do the job.
TEXT: The top priority for negotiators in a hostage
crisis is the safety of those being held against their
will. That means developing a relationship with the
hijackers to dissuade them from violence.
Negotiators need to be calm and have a lot of
patience.
University of Exeter Professor John Potter has worked
with the military and police on the psychology of
hostage situations. He says negotiators must convince
the hijackers that holding hostages will not get them
what they want.
/// POTTER ACT ///
What you want to do is get over the message that
what they are doing does not work.
/// END ACT ///
Skilled negotiators deliver that message in two ways -
- seizing control of the situation and building trust
with the hostage takers.
Negotiators dealing with the hijackers of the Afghan
jet at Stansted airport in London have provided food
and medical supplies to the airplane. In turn, the
hijackers have released eight passengers.
Building trust takes time and patience. Mr. Potter
says time is on the side of the negotiators. The
longer the talks drag on, the greater the possibility
the hijackers will get tired and give up.
/// POTTER OPT SECOND ACT ///
The key to it is how good your negotiators are
at developing the relationship, building that
relationship and gradually gaining control of
the situation.
/// END OPT ACT ///
The negotiators need to be good listeners and
realistic in their responses.
/// POTTER THIRD ACT ///
It is about picking up facts and information you
get from the hijackers or hostage takers. And
you use those in two ways. One is to build an
intelligence base of exactly what is going on.
But secondly, it is to fold those back in your
conversation to show the hostage-takers that you
understand where they are coming from and you
are working in their best interests to bring
about a mutually beneficial outcome.
/// END ACT ///
Late Monday, police officials at Stansted airport
reported the Afghan hijackers had talked about what
would happen to them if they were to give up.
Professor Potter says that is a good sign the
negotiations are progressing. And, he warns that an
armed assault on the hijacked airliner would only be a
last resort.
/// POTTER FOURTH ACT ///
The problem is military interventions are always
high risk and they are high risk for the
security forces that go and do it. So, really
and truly, the military option is the last
resort, but you have to see where the situation
is going in terms of potential harm to the
hostages.
/// END ACT ///
Tougher security measures have helped reduce the
number of hijackings in recent years, but not
eliminate them altogether. So, for those who have to
deal with the hostage situations that result, it still
presents a life-or-death challenge for their
negotiating skills. (SIGNED)
NEB/LMK/GE/RAE
08-Feb-2000 10:04 AM EDT (08-Feb-2000 1504 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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