Achille Lauro Hijacking Anniversary

On October 7, 1985, four terrorists associated with the Palestine Liberation Front took control of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt. The terrorists, headed by Abu Abbas, demanded that Israel release 50 detained Palestinians. After the Israelis refused, the terrorists shot American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, who was disabled and wheelchair-bound, and then threw him and his wheelchair into the water. Egypt eventually agreed to give the terrorists safe conduct to Tunisia. US Navy fighter jets intercepted the flight and forced it to land in Italy. Nine years later (November 30, 1994) the ship was destroyed and then sank following a fire off the coast of Somalia.