The United States said last night that an immunity clause in the Oslo peace accords did not apply to the convicted terrorist Mohammad Abbas, captured in Baghdad on Monday night, writes Michael Jansen in Nicosia
Italy said yesterday it would seek the extradition of Abbas, the mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro, during which a crippled American Jew, Mr Leon Klinghoffer, was shot dead and pushed overboard in his wheelchair.
Although not on board the Achille Lauro, Abbas was charged with planning the seizure of the ship by members of the Baghdad-backed Palestine Liberation Front, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in abstentia in Italy.
The US Central Command said Abbas' arrest "removes a portion of the terror network supported by Iraq and represents yet another victory in the global war on terrorism".
One of the key objectives of the Iraq campaign was "to search for, capture and drive out terrorists who have found safe haven in Iraq", the US statement said. "This mission success highlights the US and our coalition partners' commitment to defeating terrorism worldwide."
Abbas, known as Abu Abbas, was captured by US commandos in southern Baghdad where he had lived for the past 17 years. The Palestine Authority reacted by demanding his release. Abbas renounced violence many years ago and supported the peace process which led to the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993.
A member the executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Abbas was an ally of the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, in his quest for a settlement with Israel.
Under the September 28th, 1995, Palestinian-Israeli interim agreement, Abbas and other PLO leaders were granted immunity for alleged crimes committed before the signing of the Oslo agreement.
The US dropped a warrant for his arrest several years ago and the Israeli Supreme Court declared him immune from prosecution in 1999 after he was allowed to visit the Gaza Strip. In recent years, Abbas has been clearly visible in the Gaza Strip after both Israel and the US stopped chasing him.
However, last night, a State Department official in Washington maintained that Abbas was not covered by any Oslo immunity.
The clause in question deals only with the detention and prosecution of certain people in the jurisdiction of the Jewish state and the Palestinian Authority, said the official.
"It does not apply to the legal status of persons detained in a third country," he added.
Mr Klinghoffer's daughters want to see Abbas imprisoned. "We have been waiting for this day for 17 years," Lisa Klinghoffer told NBC television. "We have worked a lot to see this day happen," added his other daughter Ilsa.
"I hope this sends that message out to future terrorists out there - or people plotting and planning right now - that they can't hide," said Lisa Klinghoffer.