"Mr. President, 99 Senators asked for you to and for Chairman Arafat to authorize the extradition of Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the Achille Lauro hijacking. Will you ask the Justice Department to issue an extradition request? And, Chairman Arafat, would you honor such a request if it came from the United States?" The U.S. leader declined to respond to the question, even though it was addressed directly to him. Instead, Arafat stepped up to the microphone and praised Abbas as a peacemaker as Clinton stood by silently.* * *
A year earlier Clinton had signed an agreement exempting all PLO members from prosecution for terrorist acts committed before the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993.