[ADN Kronos] Khalid Hussein one of the men convicted of hijacking the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, was found dead in an Italian jail early on Monday, possibly of a heart attack Italian media reports say.| Not liver failure? How novel. |
| Nah. Couldn't be cirrhosis. Never. That happens overnight. Ev'rybody in B'desh knows that ... |
He was one of many Palestinian militants involved in the hijacking of the ship (photo) on 7 October 1985, taking hostage 450 people in exchange for the release of 82 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. During the siege they shot and killed a wheelchair bound Jewish-American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, before throwing his body overboard.
Others convicted in Italy for the hijacking include Youssef Magied al-Molqi, who was sentenced to 30 years for shooting Klinghoffer, and 44-year-old Abdelatif Ibrahim Fatayer who was freed last July.
Hussein, however, was not directly involved in the hijacking, but had maintained contact with the Palestinian militants aboard the ship and was in charge of the logistics of the operation.
The militants belonged to the Palestine Liberation Front, a faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, considered the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people at the time.
| Whereas now half the Palestinians consider the Palestinian Authority to be their legitimate representative. The PA is staffed and headed by members of the PLO, which I believe once again calls itself Fatah. Not news to Rantburg readers, I know. |