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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (5705)	1/9/2003 8:57:10 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32591

Jan. 9, 2003 - US asks Egypt if Achille Lauro mastermind is in Cairo By JANINE ZACHARIA Advertisement WASHINGTON - The US has asked Egypt and other Arab states if Muhammad Abbas (Abu Abbas), mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro cruise-ship hijacking and the murder of disabled American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, is in their country, US officials and diplomatic sources said Thursday. Earlier this week, The Jerusalem Post reported that Abbas, who has spent most of the last 17 years living in Iraq, traveled to Cairo for talks between Palestinian groups and the Egyptian government on Palestinian strategy in its war with Israel. In 1986 Abbas was tried in absentia in Italy, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison. But the Italians never pursued him vigorously. The US long ago abandoned efforts to extradite Abbas and dropped its warrant for his arrest early on because it did not believe the evidence it had would stand up in court. Also, since the statute of limitations for his crime had long since expired, US officials said in the past that extradition would not be possible. A 1996 study by the Congressional Research Service argued however that in Abbas's case the statute of limitations did not apply since it is suspended when a suspect is a fugitive from justice. Sources in Washington said the US may have indicated to Egypt Wednesday that if Abbas was in Cairo, the US would want him extradited either to Italy or the US. The Egyptian government said he had not traveled to Egypt. ``We've been in touch with senior levels of the governments involved, the Egyptian government and others," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. ``We take the matter very seriously but I have to say we are still trying to establish whether the press reports are accurate or not - of his presence in Egypt." jpost.com