The Achille Lauro Hijacking: Today

Our discussion all last week about The Death of Klinghoffer lead me, like many in the class, to research the actual events of 1985. In my research, I found several articles about the fate of the terrorists. The one that most caught my attention was from April 30 of last year. It was announcing the release of Youssef Megied al-Molqui, the man actually charged with shooting Leon Klinghoffer and ordering him and his wheelchair thrown overboard. You can read about the family's reaction to his release in a brief online article, found here:

http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/04/achille_lauro_hijacker_release.html

Personally, I am stunned that a man could get out so early just for 'model behavior' when he's a convicted murderer and hijacker. This is the actual trigger man; he took the life of an innocent American, yet he gets out for 'model behavior' in a little over 23 years. I also want to know how he can have exhibited this 'model behavior' when the article says that he went on the run in 1996 during a furlough and eluded capture for 3 weeks. How is breaking away from your imprisonment 'model behavior'? In the novel Les Miserables, Jean Valjean has five years added to his sentence every time he tries to escape from prison. And that was just for stealing a loaf of bread.

Another piece of information today that links to the hijacking of the Achille Lauro is the apparent significance of one of the men whose release was demanded by the four hijackers. Samir Kantar was one of the men who was to be released if the hijackers had gotten their wish. He was imprisoned as a killer of a father and his four-year-old daughter, as well as a police officer. However, more than 20 years after the Achille Lauro hijacking (in 2008), the group Hezbollah also demanded the release of this man. They used captured Israeli soldiers to guarantee his release. I find it bad enough that the murderer of Leon Klinghoffer is released early. Yet, here we have not only a man who murdered 3 people, including a young girl, but who seems to be far more important in the terrorist realm than just a soldier, for his release to be sought for so long by such extreme measures.