U.S. Eyes Options After Abbas Capture

By MATT KELLEY .c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - American officials have several options for handling Abul Abbas, the terrorist mastermind captured in Iraq: hold him at a military base, transfer him to another country or bring him to the United States for possible prosecution.

U.S. officials would not disclose their plans for Abbas, captured by American special operations forces Monday night during one of several raids in and around Baghdad. The raids on hideouts of Abbas' Palestine Liberation Front also nabbed other suspects and turned up weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, passports from Yemen and Lebanon and other documents, military officials said.

U.S. officials view Abbas' capture as a major win in the war on terrorism and a vindication of President Bush's charge that Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was harboring terrorists.

No matter where they take Abbas - his real first name is Mohammed - his American captors are sure to grill him about his ties to other terrorists and Saddam, who sheltered Abbas for years.

``Justice will be served,'' said Marine Maj. Brad Bartelt, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

Abbas' interrogators also will want to hear about the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea, during which an elderly American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, was shot to death and dumped overboard in his wheelchair. Abbas was convicted by an Italian court in absentia for plotting the hijacking and sentenced to life in prison.

U.S. authorities allowed an arrest warrant for Abbas in connection with the Achille Lauro case to expire after his Italian conviction. It was unclear whether he would - or could - face charges for that hijacking in U.S. courts.

``He got away from us, and we've been chasing him ever since,'' said Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief. ``He's a big catch for us. It's an old score to settle.''

Al-Qaida terrorist leaders captured by the United States have faced a range of fates. Some have been transferred to unspecified third countries - a practice that human rights groups have criticized as a backdoor way for the suspects to be tortured. Others are being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, being interrogated and awaiting possible prosecution before military tribunals. Still others are being held by U.S. forces at unknown locations outside the United States.

Abbas and his small faction had been relatively quiet in the decade after the Achille Lauro hijacking, and he repeatedly apologized for it. But in recent years his group has been a conduit for some of the $35 million Saddam's regime paid to families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Israeli officials also have accused the PLF and Abbas of training would-be terrorists at a camp in Iraq for potential attacks, including firing shoulder-launched missiles at civilian airliners.

Bush mentioned Abbas in an October speech in which he outlined the United States' argument for removing Saddam from power.

``Iraq has ... provided safe haven to Abul Abbas, who was responsible for seizing the Achille Lauro and killing an American passenger,'' Bush said. ``And we know that Iraq is continuing to finance terror and gives assistance to groups that use terrorism to undermine Middle East peace.''

Abbas, 55, had eluded arrest since four of his followers hijacked the Achille Lauro as it sailed from Egypt to Israel in October 1985. They demanded that Israel release 50 imprisoned Palestinians.

During the hijacking, his followers shot and killed Klinghoffer, 69. The hijackers then tossed Klinghoffer and his wheelchair off the cruise ship.

Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer, the Klinghoffers' grown daughters, said Tuesday, ``Bringing Abbas to justice will send a strong signal to terrorists anywhere in the world that there is no place to run, no place to hide.''

The hijacking ended after Egypt and representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization negotiated with the hijackers. Abbas, who helped negotiate the surrender, and the four hijackers were flown out of Egypt on a jet that was intercepted by U.S. Navy fighters and forced to land in Sicily.

Tensions arose as soon as the plane landed. Armed U.S. and Italian soldiers faced off, each side demanding custody of the hijackers. The situation was only resolved after feverish telephone calls between Premier Bettino Craxi and President Reagan.

The Italians took custody of the four and promised to try them, but refused to detain Abbas, saying the evidence compiled by Washington was insufficient and that he held an Iraqi diplomatic passport. Within two days, he slipped out of the country.

Two weeks later, Italian magistrates filed charges against Abbas and issued an arrest warrant, which has remained outstanding.

In June 1986 he was tried in absentia, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the hijacking. The sentence was upheld on appeal.

Abbas repeatedly apologized for the slaying, saying his fighters had meant to attack Israel and only seized the ship after its crew discovered the terrorists' weapons.

``The killing of the passenger was a mistake. ... We are sorry,'' he said.

Abbas was a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee from 1984 but left in 1991, according to the State Department.