Beirut Page #3

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Mason Francis Skiles.

45 years old.

Postgrad at Oxford

in Arabic and Mideast studies.

He comes here in 1962

on a teaching fellowship.

He's recruited Foreign Service in '63

for immediate posting to Cairo.

Then Damascus, '65, Tel Aviv '68.

1969, he's reassigned to DC

as assistant undersecretary

for Mideast Affairs.

He marries. He's published.

He's widely quoted.

Kissinger takes a shine to him,

throws him a working group

at the Paris peace talks.

And in '71 he jumps the line.

He comes back to Beirut,

where he was appointed

deputy chief of mission here.

And his wife... I guess Don

ran that by you on the ride in.

The incident at Skiles' house in '72?

His wife and the Abu Rajal brothers?

I can read, Ms. Crowder.

What I need to know is

where he stands now.

Well, he left Beirut in '73

before the civil war kicked in.

He was the senior trade negotiator

for the Boston Merchandising Council,

and then he left there three years ago

to go private.

And now he just has

this small two-man firm.

Mostly local labor issues.

So, from Kissinger to the crapper.

Mm-hmm.

He has a drinking problem.

Christ. How bad?

They had to pour him

on to the plane.

Like we've got time for this nonsense.

Talk to me, Don.

He's damaged goods.

Front-runner who stumbled.

But he's manageable.

Frank? You knew him when.

Don't play cards with him, Gary.

Take it easy.

Mr. Skiles!

Mr. Skiles!

Bernard Teppler. American University.

Absolute pleasure to have you here.

Let me take...

Welcome to Beirut.

We're thrilled to have you here.

Let me take that for you.

I'll be your liaison

with the university.

Get you where you need to get.

Beirut's changed quite a bit

in the past ten years.

You missed quite the civil war.

My itinerary says I'm staying

at the L'Admiral Hotel.

Yes, indeed.

We've booked you the deluxe suite.

On the shelling side, I'm afraid.

Beachside was full.

Why aren't we taking Rue du Nabil?

It's faster.

Rue du Nabil's not good today.

Big car bomb last night.

Many people killed.

Who lit that fuse?

Well, it's Beirut,

Mr. Skiles. Depends who you ask.

PLO says it's Amal militia.

Amal militia says it's Christian militia.

Christian militia says it's the Druze.

Druze says it's the Syrian Army.

Listen to the radio from Damascus,

it's the Israelis making excuses

to come across the border.

Ask Israel...

Ah, for them it's always the PLO.

Not the PLO. My wife says

it was Gamaeet El Cheea.

What do you say?

I say we skip Rue du Nabil.

They're checking papers, sir.

Oh, f*** it.

I'm afraid I'll need your passport.

Nothing to worry about.

PLO run a decent checkpoint.

- Passport.

- Hold on.

Welcome to the Green Line.

This road divides

East and West Beirut now.

One of the civil war's

charming new landmarks.

Muslims to the West.

Christians to the East.

Not much room for the rest of us,

but there you have it.

Thank you! Thank you so much.

Sh*t.

% ... till it hurts %

% I know you hurt, too

But what else can we do %

% Tormented and torn apart %

% I wish I could carry your smile

In my heart... %

Monsieur. S'il vous plait?

% It would make me believe

What tomorrow could bring %

% When today doesn't really know %

% Doesn't really know %

% I'm all out of love... %

Mr. Skiles? Mr. Skiles?

Hi. I'm Sandy Crowder.

I'm the deputy cultural attach

at the Embassy.

So nice to meet you.

What a surprise.

I help out at the university sometimes.

They told me you were here

for the lectures.

-I know you just got in...

-Yeah. No, I just... Please. Please.

No, I left my car out front.

Perhaps you'd like to get out

of the hotel?

Oh. You know what?

That's funny. I was just thinking

I could use a tour guide.

-Really?

-No.

So why don't we stand here and pretend

while you tell me what kind of trouble

I've gotten myself into.

The ambassador's hosting

a recital this evening,

and I was thinking of stopping in.

You're just gonna keep smiling at me

no matter what I say, right?

Why don't I meet you out front?

Good God. Mason.

Ambassador Whalen.

It's shocking, I'm sure.

Good seeing you, Frank.

I seriously doubt that,

but I appreciate the effort.

Congratulations on all this.

Now I know you're f***ing with me.

Why don't you go and find Don?

We'll be right up.

-Uh, flight good?

-Good enough.

You get a look around?

- Yeah. What's left of it.

- Breaks your heart?

I tell you, Mason.

You missed one hell of a fight.

PLO started tossing bombs.

Government pushed back.

Israel got involved.

And what did we get? 50,000 dead.

City carved up like a goddamn pizza.

And the PLO, they're still here,

hoping the cease-fire holds.

'Cause now we've got Israel

down the road licking their chops,

looking for an excuse to drive up

and show us what great weapons we got 'em.

-Mason Skiles, uh, Colonel Gary Ruzak.

-Nice to see you.

- National Security Council.

- How you doing?

-Um, thirsty?

-Sure. Uh, bourbon. Neat.

Before we get started,

I want you to know we're all

keenly aware of what you've done.

And what is that?

Coming out here. No notice. No info.

It's been duly noted.

I think you know Don Gaines,

our chief political officer here.

Been a while.

Long time.

Here you go. Have a seat.

Okay.

Wow. Two spies, the White House

and an ambassador.

Maybe one of you can actually tell me

what I'm doing here.

Have you talked to anybody

in the area recently?

- No.

- You had a lot of friends here.

-You must keep in touch with some?

-No.

A phone call? Christmas card?

- Where we going with this?

- It's a simple question.

Who's in charge here?

We all serve the president.

Unless he's the next one

to pop through that door,

why don't you step up

and tell me what the f***'s going on.

Three nights ago, an American

was pulled off the street in West Beirut.

The next morning, we got a communiqu

from a group calling itself

the Militia of Islamic Liberation.

Very clean. No rhetoric.

They have the guy, they wanna talk.

They want you to broker the deal.

They asked for you specifically.

Who would do that?

We know who it's not.

It's not mainstream PLO.

- That's a minority opinion.

- Come on.

The last thing they want is Israeli tanks

rolling across the border.

They won't risk something like this.

Right now, we're not ruling out anyone.

Everything is in play.

What is it you want me to do?

You're an experienced negotiator.

Negotiate.

I'm here because some lunatic

pulled my name out of a hat.

Your kidnappers clearly wanna make a deal.

They got back fast. They're responsive.

They're specific.

You have something that they want.

Call their bluff. Tell them I'm out.

Let the downside of that

ring in their ears for a while.

If they bite, great.

You have your first concession.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised.

I thought I'd see Cal here tonight.

Cal Riley?

Cal's the hostage.

You guys were pretty close.

When's the last time you talked to him?

Jesus. Uh...

Ten years ago? I...

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