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Hijacker Abbas is captured by US in Baghdad

Arifa Akbar
Wednesday 16 April 2003 00:00 BST
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The Palestinian guerrilla leader Abu Abbas, who masterminded the hijacking of an Italian cruise ship in 1985 that killed an American, has been captured by US special forces in Baghdad.

He was taken by special operations forces during a raid on Monday night and is now in US custody in Iraq.

American defence officials said a number of his associates had also been detained at raids on several sites in the capital. The commandos also seized documents and weapons.

The Palestinian Authority today demanded his release, saying the arrest violated a 1995 interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Under the 1995 deal between Israel and the Palestinians, which also was signed by then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, no PLO officials were to be arrested for violent acts committed before the 1993 Israel-PLO pact of mutual recognition, according to Palestinian Cabinet minister, Saeb Erekat.

Abu Abbas, also known as Mohammed Abbas, is head of the Palestine Liberation Front, a PLO splinter group.

He led the hijacking of the Achille Lauro in the eastern Mediterranean in October 1985, in which Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly American man, was shot in his wheelchair and thrown overboard. Abu Abbas, who is 61 or 62, had eluded arrest since the attack on the ship, which was sailing from Egypt to Israel.

The militants, who demanded that Israel release 50 imprisoned Palestinians, surrendered to the Egyptian authorities, which put them on a plane to Tunisia. American fighters intercepted the aircraft and forced it to land in Sicily but Italy allowed Abu Abbas to leave, saying it had insufficient evidence on him.

An Italian court later sentenced the militants to prison and Abu Abbas was convicted in absentia of masterminding the operation. He was given five life sentences and is also wanted in the US.

After the hijacking, Abu Abbas was quoted as as saying it had all been "a mistake. There was no plan to hijack the ship or hurt the people abroad."

In 1990, the attack was made into a TV film, Voyage of Terror – The Achille Lauro Affair, starring Burt Lancaster.

His group was also responsible for some attacks in Israel. Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief, said: "He's a big catch for us. It's an old score to settle."

Mr Klinghoffer and his wife, Marilyn, with nine friends from the New York area, took the cruise to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary. They were among 500 passengers taken hostage. Mr Klinghoffer's wife died of cancer just four months after the hijacking.

The US Justice Department had said it had no grounds to seek Abu Abbas' extradition, as there was no outstanding warrant against him. The American warrants were dropped after his conviction in Italy.

Recently, Abu Abbas, who spent much of the past 17 years in Iraq, was believed to have been offering advice on Middle East peace. There were reports in January that he was involved in talks in Egypt to end attacks on civilians in Israel.

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