[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 253--RELATIVE TO THE MURDER OF LEON KLINGHOFFER

  Mr. D'AMATO (for himself, Mr. Dole, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Nickles, Mr. 
Murkowski, and Mr. Hatch) submitted the following resolution; which was 
considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 253

       Whereas, Mohammed Abbas, alias Abu Abbas, was convicted by 
     a Genoan Court in June 1986 and sentenced to life in prison, 
     in absentia, for ``kidnapping for terrorist ends that caused 
     the killing of a person' for his role in the death of an 
     American citizen, Leon Klinghoffer;
       Whereas, a report from the Italian magistrate who tried the 
     case against Abbas stated that the evidence was ``multiple, 
     unequivocal, and overwhelming'' and that his actions in 
     training and financing for this operation, and in choosing 
     the target, as well as in planning the escape, made Abbas 
     guilty of the murder;
       Whereas, a warrant for Abbas' arrest was unsealed in 
     October 1985 charging him with hijacking, and a bounty of 
     $250,000 was offered for his arrest;
       Whereas, the Justice Department felt that it did not have 
     the evidence to convict him, and citing the conviction, 
     albeit in absentia by the Italian authorities, canceled the 
     warrant for his arrest in January 1988;
       Whereas, at an April 1996 meeting of the Palestine National 
     Council in Gaza, Abbas described the killing as ``a mistake'' 
     and that Mr. Klinghoffer was killed because he ``had started 
     to incite the passengers against [the kidnappers]'';
       Now, Therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the 
     Senate that the Attorney General should seek, from the 
     appropriate foreign government, the detention and extradition 
     to the United States of Mohammed Abbas (also known as Abu 
     Abbas) for the murder of Leon Klinghoffer in October 1985 
     during the hijacking of the vessel Achille Lauro.

                          ____________________