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PA Urges Immediate Release Of Abu Abbas
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U.S. Special Forces arrest Abu Abbas "in violation of the 1995 peace accord"
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GAZA
CITY, April 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The
Palestinian Authority on Wednesday, April 16, asked Washington to
immediately free Mohammad Abu Abbas, a Palestinian leader reportedly
arrested by U.S. Special Forces in Iraq Monday, April 14.
"We
ask the U.S. administration for the immediate release of Abu Abbas and
for it to respect the 1995 interim agreement between the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel (which was) signed by
(former) U.S. president Bill Clinton," senior Palestinian
official Saeb Erekat said.
Abu
Abbas, accused by Washington of masterminding the hijacking of an
Italian cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 1985, led the PLO faction
of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) that has been based in Iraq
for the past 17 years.
Erekat
underlined that the arrest of Abu Abbas "violated a 1995 peace
accord brokered by the U.S. itself", citing that one of its
clauses said PLO members cannot be arrested or tried for acts
committed before September 1993, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
Palestinian official recalled that Abbas, who has lived most his life
in exile, had "visited the West Bank and Gaza Strip several times
with Israel's coordination and for this reason we call on the U.S.
administration to respect this agreement and liberate Abu Abbas
straight away."
The
Palestinian Authority would "request Washington not to extradite
Abu Abbas to Italy and to free him," Saleh Raafat, member of the
PLO Central Office told Al-Jazeera satellite channel.
Abbas
moved freely from Baghdad to the Palestinian territories "in
front of the eyes of the Israeli authorities," he remarked.
"With
his arrest, the U.S. pays no heed to all Palestinian-Israeli peace
agreements," Saleh stressed.
Interview
by Al-Jazeera over phone from Beirut, Abbas’s wife Reem el-Nimr
asserted he was not a member of the Baath party and was not involved
in any activities in Iraq.
The
Italian cruise liner the Achille Lauro was hijacked for three days in
the Mediterranean Sea in October 1985 by Palestinians who demanded the
release of 50 Palestinians abducted by Israeli occupation forces.
The
ship had 450 passengers, mostly American, aboard.
The
PLO sent Hani al-Hassan, a leader of its Fatah wing and Abu Abbas to
the Egyptian port of Port Said to negotiate a solution to the crisis.
But
on October 8, an elderly passenger in a wheelchair, American Jew Leon
Klinghoffer, was murdered by the captors and his body thrown
overboard.
The
following day, the four hijackers gave themselves up in Port Said in
return for a pledge of free passage.
Two
days later, an Egyptian plane carrying the four Palestinians was
forced by American fighter jets to land in Sicily and the hijackers
were turned over to Italian authorities.
On
October 12, the four were charged with first-degree murder, the
hijacking of a ship and taking hostages.
Abbas,
initially considered by Italy as simply a witness, left for Belgrade
after Italian authorities said they did not have enough evidence to
hold him.
However,
he was convicted in absentia in May 1987 by an Italian court to life
in prison for masterminding the hijacking.
Now
in his early sixties, Abbas has reportedly spent much of the past 17
years in Iraq.
In
1996, he apologized for Klinghoffer's death, describing the killing as
a "mistake."
In
April 1996, Abu Abbas signed up to the PLO charter which had dropped
calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and from then on was
allowed by Israel to visit the Palestinian territories for meetings of
the Palestinian National Council, the PLO's parliament in exile.
Italy
Seeks Extradition
In
a related development, Italy called Wednesday for Abbas’s
extradition.
Italian
Justice Minister Roberto Castelli said Rome was working to establish
which authority it should address the request to.
"We
have already asked the Egyptian and Jordanian governments in recent
months for the extradition of Abu Abbas, after receiving information
that he might be in those countries," he recalled.
"Now
we know that he was captured in Iraq but that he's in the hands of the
American authorities. We have to resolve this juridical problem over
who to address the extradition request which we will do as soon as
possible."
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