Editing Palestinian Liberation Front (section)

=== ''Achille Lauro'' hijacking ===
{{Main|Achille Lauro hijacking}}
One notorious incident was the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship [[MS Achille Lauro|MS ''Achille Lauro'']] on 7 October 1985. The hijackers' original aim was to use the ship to slip into [[Israel]]. However, crew members discovered them cleaning weapons, and the group then seized control of the ship, murdering an elderly wheelchair-dependent [[Jew]]ish New Yorker, [[Leon Klinghoffer]].<ref>Rubenberg, C.A. (2010) The Encyclopedia Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Lynne Rienner, Publishers.</ref>

US fighter planes later forced down the [[Egypt]]ian aircraft in which [[Abu Abbas]] was escaping following a negotiated end of the hijacking, and forced it to land at a [[USAF]] base on [[Sigonella]], [[Sicily]]. The Italians let Abbas go, but subsequently sentenced him to five life sentences ''in absentia.'' Abbas was expelled from Tunisia and established his headquarters in [[Baghdad]], [[Iraq]].

The United States could have brought its own charges against Abbas, although a criminal complaint filed against him in 1986 was dropped a short time later without an indictment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/04/16/sprj.irq.us.abu.abbas/index.html|title= U.S. mulls legal options after Abbas capture |date= April 17, 2003|publisher=CNN.com}}</ref>