Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, has filed a petition in Israel’s Supreme Court calling for the extradition of terrorist mastermind Mohammed Abu-Abbas to Israel. The court papers demand that Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein request that Abbas be returned to Israel to stand trial for several terror attacks he has perpetrated in recent years.
Abbas is currently being held by the United States following his arrest in Iraq on April 14, 2003 by American military forces. The terrorist, who heads the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), had fled to Baghdad after planning a series of bombings and murders in Israel.
“In recent weeks,” reads a Shurat HaDin press release, “it has grown apparent that the United States will not prosecute the terrorist leader responsible for the infamous hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise liner in 1985.”
During the course of the terror attack, an American Jew, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered by PLF gunmen. Abbas managed to evade capture following the hijacking and escaped to Iraq. An Italian court convicted Abbas, in absentia, in 1986, and sentenced him to life in prison. Italian magistrates, in a report issued after the guilty verdict, stated that the evidence against Abbas was "multiple, unequivocal, and overwhelming for all crimes for which he stands accused."
Shurat HaDin is now demanding that the Supreme Court order the Attorney General to bring an indictment against Abbas and seek his extradition for all the attacks he perpetrated against Israelis and Jews throughout the years, including the murder of Jerusalem teenager Yuri Gushchin in 2001 by PLF terrorists. In April 1996, under the government of Shimon Peres, Abbas was permitted by Israel to enter Gaza to attend a Palestinian National Council meeting. At the time, a petition was brought in the Supreme Court demanding the arrest of the terrorist leader. The Supreme Court rejected the petition and permitted Abbas to attend the conference. In May 1998, under the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas was again permitted to enter Gaza, this time purportedly, to reside there permanently. Again a petition was brought in the Supreme Court of Justice demanding that Abbas be arrested. The Supreme Court again rejected the petition and held that since Abbas now "supported" the Oslo Process he should be permitted to live in the Palestinian Authority (PA). After residing in the PA for only a year, Abbas abruptly returned to Iraq. In an October 17, 2000, interview with Iraq's al-Rafideen magazine Abbas boasted of the terrorist network he had established in the PA during his stay. Abbas stated that inside the PLF "a decision was taken to carry out suicide operations" against Israel "for the sake of liberating Palestine." He vowed his group would engage in terrorist attacks against Israel.
The PLF cell trained by Abbas was recently responsible for:
* The murder of Jerusalem teenager Yuri Gushchin in Ramallah in July 2001
* The bombing of a checkpoint junction in Haifa which injured five
* The planting of a bomb near Um Safa
* The attempted bombing of a military bus near Jenin
* A conspiracy to carry out attacks at Ben Gurion Airport and in Tel-Aviv
At the time of his arrest in April, United States President George W. Bush pointed to Abbas as a prime example of the type of terrorists who had been given refuge in Iraq by Saddam Hussein and justified the American invasion: "Iraq has ... provided safe haven to Abu 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."
According to CIA counter-terrorism chief Vince Cannistraro, the US had been hunting Abbas when they entered Bagdad: "He got away from us in the past, and we've been chasing him ever since, He's a big catch for us. It's an old score to settle."
Despite the initial pledges of the Bush Administration to indict Abbas for the Achille Lauro attack, the Department of Justice soon discovered that it did not have adequate jurisdiction to prosecute the Palestinian leader for 1985 hijacking aboard an Italian ship. Efforts to convince the government of Italy to arrest and imprison Abbas have also failed. It is feared that the failure to indict Abbas might result in his release from American custody.
Shurat HaDin is now making the case for Israel to step in and prosecute Abbas:
“Israel [has] a clear legal and moral obligation to arrest Abbas, both for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro and the subsequent Israeli terror attacks carried out by the PLF in recent years, including the murder of Jerusalem teenager Yuri Gushchin. The murder of the Jerusalem teenager and the wounding of other Israel citizens in bombing attacks could have been avoided had the Supreme Court ordered the government to arrest Abbas back in 1996 or in 1999. Instead, he was allowed to enter Gaza and continue organizing terrorist attacks against Israel from within the PA.”
Shurat Hadin Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner who represented the earlier Supreme Court petitions urging Abbas' arrest said, "For years we have been relentlessly demanding that Israel act to capture this terrorist mastermind and try him for his attacks against Jews. Instead, he was repeatedly permitted to escape. The blood of Yuri Gushchin is on the hands of those Israeli law enforcement officials who continuously allowed Abbas to enter the PA to organize terrorist attacks against us. Twice the Supreme Court gave Abbas the benefit of the doubt and permitted him to advance his terrorist campaigns from within the PA. We now demand in the Supreme Court that Israel's Attorney General finally prosecute Abbas for the 2001 murder and ensure that he spends the rest of his life in prison."
Darshan-Leitner is also representing a civil suit in the Jerusalem District Court against Abu Abbas and the PLO on behalf of survivors of the Achille Lauro hijacking.
Abbas is currently being held by the United States following his arrest in Iraq on April 14, 2003 by American military forces. The terrorist, who heads the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), had fled to Baghdad after planning a series of bombings and murders in Israel.
“In recent weeks,” reads a Shurat HaDin press release, “it has grown apparent that the United States will not prosecute the terrorist leader responsible for the infamous hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise liner in 1985.”
During the course of the terror attack, an American Jew, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered by PLF gunmen. Abbas managed to evade capture following the hijacking and escaped to Iraq. An Italian court convicted Abbas, in absentia, in 1986, and sentenced him to life in prison. Italian magistrates, in a report issued after the guilty verdict, stated that the evidence against Abbas was "multiple, unequivocal, and overwhelming for all crimes for which he stands accused."
Shurat HaDin is now demanding that the Supreme Court order the Attorney General to bring an indictment against Abbas and seek his extradition for all the attacks he perpetrated against Israelis and Jews throughout the years, including the murder of Jerusalem teenager Yuri Gushchin in 2001 by PLF terrorists. In April 1996, under the government of Shimon Peres, Abbas was permitted by Israel to enter Gaza to attend a Palestinian National Council meeting. At the time, a petition was brought in the Supreme Court demanding the arrest of the terrorist leader. The Supreme Court rejected the petition and permitted Abbas to attend the conference. In May 1998, under the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas was again permitted to enter Gaza, this time purportedly, to reside there permanently. Again a petition was brought in the Supreme Court of Justice demanding that Abbas be arrested. The Supreme Court again rejected the petition and held that since Abbas now "supported" the Oslo Process he should be permitted to live in the Palestinian Authority (PA). After residing in the PA for only a year, Abbas abruptly returned to Iraq. In an October 17, 2000, interview with Iraq's al-Rafideen magazine Abbas boasted of the terrorist network he had established in the PA during his stay. Abbas stated that inside the PLF "a decision was taken to carry out suicide operations" against Israel "for the sake of liberating Palestine." He vowed his group would engage in terrorist attacks against Israel.
The PLF cell trained by Abbas was recently responsible for:
* The murder of Jerusalem teenager Yuri Gushchin in Ramallah in July 2001
* The bombing of a checkpoint junction in Haifa which injured five
* The planting of a bomb near Um Safa
* The attempted bombing of a military bus near Jenin
* A conspiracy to carry out attacks at Ben Gurion Airport and in Tel-Aviv
At the time of his arrest in April, United States President George W. Bush pointed to Abbas as a prime example of the type of terrorists who had been given refuge in Iraq by Saddam Hussein and justified the American invasion: "Iraq has ... provided safe haven to Abu 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."
According to CIA counter-terrorism chief Vince Cannistraro, the US had been hunting Abbas when they entered Bagdad: "He got away from us in the past, and we've been chasing him ever since, He's a big catch for us. It's an old score to settle."
Despite the initial pledges of the Bush Administration to indict Abbas for the Achille Lauro attack, the Department of Justice soon discovered that it did not have adequate jurisdiction to prosecute the Palestinian leader for 1985 hijacking aboard an Italian ship. Efforts to convince the government of Italy to arrest and imprison Abbas have also failed. It is feared that the failure to indict Abbas might result in his release from American custody.
Shurat HaDin is now making the case for Israel to step in and prosecute Abbas:
“Israel [has] a clear legal and moral obligation to arrest Abbas, both for the hijacking of the Achille Lauro and the subsequent Israeli terror attacks carried out by the PLF in recent years, including the murder of Jerusalem teenager Yuri Gushchin. The murder of the Jerusalem teenager and the wounding of other Israel citizens in bombing attacks could have been avoided had the Supreme Court ordered the government to arrest Abbas back in 1996 or in 1999. Instead, he was allowed to enter Gaza and continue organizing terrorist attacks against Israel from within the PA.”
Shurat Hadin Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner who represented the earlier Supreme Court petitions urging Abbas' arrest said, "For years we have been relentlessly demanding that Israel act to capture this terrorist mastermind and try him for his attacks against Jews. Instead, he was repeatedly permitted to escape. The blood of Yuri Gushchin is on the hands of those Israeli law enforcement officials who continuously allowed Abbas to enter the PA to organize terrorist attacks against us. Twice the Supreme Court gave Abbas the benefit of the doubt and permitted him to advance his terrorist campaigns from within the PA. We now demand in the Supreme Court that Israel's Attorney General finally prosecute Abbas for the 2001 murder and ensure that he spends the rest of his life in prison."
Darshan-Leitner is also representing a civil suit in the Jerusalem District Court against Abu Abbas and the PLO on behalf of survivors of the Achille Lauro hijacking.