The brutal and barbaric slaying of Leon Klinghoffer has haunted us for many years. While 69 year old disabled Leon Klinghoffer sat in his wheelchair aboard the Achilles Lauro cruise ship on October 7, 1985, four Palestinian terrorists shot and threw him overboard as his wife watched in horror. Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer, American Jews, had been celebrating their wedding anniversary by taking this cruise. The Palestinians had hijacked the Italian cruise ship as it left Egypt for Israel holding 400 passengers hostage for two days.

It was only after Egypt agreed to grant the terrorists safe passage that the hostages were released. As Egypt was flying the terrorists to Tunis, US Navy fighter planes forced them to land at a NATO base in Italy. (When asked if the operation should proceed to force down the EyptiAir plane carrying Abul Abbas and other terrorists who had hijacked the Achille Lauro, President Ronald Reagan said: "Good God! They've murdered an American here. Let's get on with it.".   US Resolve Political Quotes). Insisting upon jurisdiction, the Italian government immediately sent Mohammed Abul Abbas, the mastermind of the hijacking to Yugoslavia for safety. (Mohammed Abul Abbas was later convicted in absentia to life imprisonment.) The apprehended Palestinian hijackers were tried and sent to Italian prisons where they later escaped.

UPDATE Coalition Captures Terrorist By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 16, 2003 - Coalition special operations personnel in Baghdad captured Palestinian terrorist Abu Abbas April 14, U.S. Central Command officials said today. Abu Abbas, also known as Mohammad Abbas, planned the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. In the course of that hijacking a wheelchair-bound American citizen, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered. Abbas lived in a southern Baghdad. "Abbas was described as the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Front," said Army Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks during a briefing at Qatar. "Abu Abbas is a terrorist. He was a terrorist and he remains a terrorist, and he will be viewed as such." Brooks, the vice chief of operations at the command, said Abu Abbas' role in terrorism and his links to other terrorist organizations are clear. "Perhaps what's more important: He was found in Baghdad," he said. "We've said for a long time that Baghdad and Iraq, and the regime that no longer exists, have harbored terrorists, have provided a safe haven for terrorists and in some cases have facilitated the operations of terrorists." American Forces Press Service UPDATE April 22, 2003 Yasser Arafat (PLO) has launched a campaign for the release of Abbas. UPDATE March 9, 2004Mohammed Abul Abbas died of a heart attack today in Iraq while in the custody of the United States. Although an autopsy will be performed, Abbas' death has been attributed to his declining poor health over the past several years. Reuters News

Also see Terror Aboard the Archille Lauro