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| Achille Lauro Murderer Released in Italy |
| 2009-05-01 |
| [Arutz Sheva] Convicted terrorist Yousef Majed al-Molqui, the ringleader of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro, has been freed from an Italian prison. Molqui served 23 years of his 30-year jail sentence for his role in the hijacking and murder of a wheelchair-bound Jewish passenger. Italian officials announced Molqui's release on Thursday. He is currently staying in a holding center, where he is fighting an expulsion order. He has married an Italian citizen, and claims that his marriage should grant him citizenship as well. In addition, Molqui argues that he has no citizenship. As a descendant of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel, Molqui is not eligible for citizenship in Israel, nor is he eligible for citizenship in his state of birth. Molqui escaped in 1996 while on leave from prison, but was recaptured and returned to jail. Molqui and three other members of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) terrorist group hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship off the coast of Egypt in 1985. The hijackers demanded the release of 50 terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails. During the incident, the hijackers also murdered wheelchair-bound American citizen Leon Klinghoffer and threw his body overboard. Klinghoffer, 69, was singled out because he was Jewish. A second hijacker, Ibrahim Abdel-Atif, was released from prison last year and is also fighting a deportation order. Like Molqui, Abdel-Atif has no citizenship, as his country of birth, Lebanon, refuses to grant citizenship to descendants of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 Grant him, his PLO buddy, and his wife US citizenship. Please!!!! |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-05-01 13:38 |
| #6 "He has married an Italian citizen..." You really wonder who would marry this POS |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2009-05-01 13:02 |
| #5 Oh, Mister Mossad... |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-05-01 10:42 |
| #4 "Molqui is not eligible for citizenship in Israel" That should be good enough for another UN resolution against the evil Juice |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2009-05-01 10:14 |
| #3 Hopefully he settle near Rome and cause them a great deal of trouble. A memory jogger: Initially the Italians were not disposed to cooperate, scrambling their own warplanes to prevent a landing at Sigonella, but after a call from Reagan, Italy's Prime Minister Bettino Craxi gave permission to land. The American plan was to load the Palestinians onto a U.S. military aircraft and transport them to the States. But when American troops encircled the 737 they found themselves surrounded in turn by Italian soldiers. Italy had decided that since the Achille Lauro was an Italian vessel, the hijackers should be tried in Italian courts. The terrorists faced charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping and hijacking. When Reagan called Craxi this time, the Italian leader wouldn't budge -- Abul Abbas and his cronies would remain in Italian hands. After Arafat threatened *uncontrollable reactions" if the Italians turned Abbas over to the Americans, Italy refused a U.S. request to extradite the terrorist leader. Abbas was soon freed. In 1986 the four hijackers were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-05-01 08:27 |
| #2 Brave, brave Lions of Islam! Killing a wheel chair bound 69 year old man! Fine - return him to the scene of the hijacking of the Achille Lauro and release him there. I don't care if it is many miles out to sea - just release him. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-05-01 06:58 |
| #1 Any word on Leonard Klinghoffer? Is he still dead? This is one of the incidents that convinced me the Palestinians were basically a pack of murderous savages. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-05-01 01:02 |