Italy Sends Freed Achille Lauro Hijacker to Syria

Youssef Magied al-Molqui, ringleader of the Achille Lauro hijacking and the murderer of U.S. citizen Leon Klinghoffer, has been removed from Italy to Syria:

(IsraelNN.com) The ringleader of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro ship will be expelled from Italy to Syria, the Associated Press reports. Youssef Magied al-Molqui has served only 23 years of his 30-year jail sentence for his role in the hijacking and murder of wheelchair-bound Jewish passenger Leon Klinghoffer.

Italy’s Attorney General Gianfranco Pagano said that Molqui was to be flown on Saturday from his holding cell in Sicily to Rome and then onto Damascus.

Molqui's claim that he should not be expelled due to his marriage to an Italian citizen was rejected by an Italian court. Nor did his claim to being stateless - he is a descendant of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel - prevent his expulsion order.

He 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. Abdel-Atif also has no citizenship, as his country of birth, Lebanon, refuses to grant citizenship to descendants of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel.

The United States has never yet punished anyone for the murder of Klinghoffer, nor for the other acts of terrorism committed by the Achille Lauro hijackers against U.S. citizens. Al-Molqui ought to be the first, his prison sentence in Italy notwithstanding.

The United States does not have an extradiction treaty with Syria, and it is extremely doubtful the Syrians would cooperate with us on this matter, in any case. But do we need Syria's cooperation? Isn't this - now declasssified - 1995 Presidential Decision Directive regarding terrorist rendition still in effect?

Return of Indicted Terrorists to the U.S. for Prosecution:

We shall vigorously apply extraterritorial statutes to counter acts of terrorism and apprehend terrorists outside of the United States. When terrorists wanted for violation of U.S. law are at large overseas, their return for prosecution shall be a matter of the highest priority and shall be a continuing central issue in bilateral relations with any state that harbors or assists them. Where we do not have adequate arrangements, the Departments of State and Justice shall work to resolve the problem, where possible and appropriate, through negotiation and conclusion of new extradition treaties. (U)

If we do not receive adequate cooperation from a state that harbors a terrorist whose extradition we are seeking, we shall take appropriate measures to induce cooperation. Return of suspects by force may be effected without the cooperation of the host government, consistent with the procedures outlined in NSD-77, which shall remain in effect. (S)

President Obama's Executive Order of January 22, 2009 does not revoke PDD-39, so what is there to stop him from ordering the forcible rendition of Al-Molqui? His crimes were committed against citizens of the United States, and simple justice demands that he be punished for them by the United States. Twenty-three years of enduring bad pasta frajule in an Italian prison does not settle his bill with us. He still has an ass-kicking coming to him from Leon Klinghoffer's homeland.

Rendition - whether it's ordinary or extraordinary, regular or extra crispy - is what this case calls for.

Hijacker and Killer of U.S. Citizen Released From Custody in Italy

The government of Italy has released from prison one of the Palestinian hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, the notorious terrorist incident from 1985 in which an elderly and handicapped U.S. citizen was murdered.

The surviving family members of the victim released this statement: Daughters Of Leon Klinghoffer Outraged At Early Release Of Achille Lauro Hijacker

New York, NY, April 30, 2009 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the daughters of Leon Klinghoffer today expressed outrage at the early release of terrorist Youssef Magied Al-Molqui from a prison in Palermo, Sicily. Al-Molqui was convicted of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and of the shooting death of Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American tourist. He served 23 years of a 30-year sentence.

Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer issued the following statement:

We are outraged at the news of the release of Youssef Magied Al-Molqui for good behavior. He is the terrorist who was responsible for actually shooting our father, Leon Klinghoffer, in cold blood, in his wheelchair.

We were furious with the Italian court's short sentencing at the time, and we are outraged to now learn that he will be leaving prison early for "good behavior." [TSB note: That all that good. In 1996, Al-Moqui failed to return to prison from a furlough and skipped out of Italy to Spain, where he was recaptured a month later.] There should be no good behavior clause for terrorist murderers. This is a travesty.

The Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer Memorial Foundation of the Anti-Defamation League is dedicated to educating the world about the deadly realities of terrorism, working to combat the threat of terrorism through educational, political and legal means.

According to the Associated Press, Al-Molqui is now in a holding center for immigrants in Trapani while Italian officials work to expel him. Is there something stopping the U.S. government from seizing this scumbag and delivering him to the U.S. justice system?

The leader of the attack on the Achille Lauro, Abu Abbas, was captured in Baghdad by U.S. forces in 2003 but died of a heart attack before he could be brought to the U.S. for trial, so this country has not yet punished anyone for the heinous murder of Klinghoffer. Italy has no death penalty, and I assume that extradition of Al-Molqui would require the U.S. to agree not to seek to execute him, but we could still seek a life sentence. Spending the rest of his life in a SuperMax prison is the very least Al-Molqui deserves.