Hillary Urges Prosecution for Hijacker Pardoned by Bill

News Max ^ | 4/03/03 | Carl Limbacher

[GrandMoM]

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is urging Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft to prosecute Palestinian terrorist Abu Abbas, the notorious mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking who was given a defacto exemption from prosecution by her husband because of the Oslo Peace accords.

"I am writing to urge that you coordinate with Attorney General John Ashcroft to bring Abbas to the United States for prosecution as soon as possible in New York," Clinton told Rumsfeld, in a letter posted this week to her Web site.

"Since Abu Abbas is responsible for the murder of a U.S. citizen, he is subject to U.S. indictment and prosecution. I strongly support prosecution of Abbas in the United States and believe that the Justice Department should pursue his prosecution as soon as possible," Clinton urged.

She also warned that, "Abbas should not be handed to a foreign nation" - a reference to a request by Italy for his extradition after his capture in Baghdad last month.

Sen. Clinton's strong recommendation for Abbas' extradition is a reversal of her husband's decision not to press Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to hand over the Achille Lauro mastermind seven years ago.

During a May 1, 1996 visit by Arafat to the White House, then-President Clinton was asked about a Senate resolution backing Abbas' extradition during a Rose Gaden press conference.

According to a transcript obtained by NewsMax, a reporter asked:

"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.

"We should not forget that Abu Abbas came and attended the PNC and voted to change the Covenant of the PLO and to support the peace process," Arafat told the White House gathering.

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.

After Abu Abbas' capture in Baghdad last month, Palestinian negotiator Saed Erekat invoked the Clinton deal to seek his release. A State Department official told Reuters that the 1995 agreement did not apply to the legal status of individuals being held in a third country.

Sen. Clinton's comments to Secretary Rumsfeld last week, however, strongly suggest that she now believes her husband made the wrong decision, though it's not clear what her position was at the time.

"Bringing Abbas to the United States for criminal prosecution will send a strong message that the United States will never relent in pursuing terrorists who kill U.S. citizens," she said in her letter. "We must show that our national memory is not short when it comes to seeking justice for terrorist acts."

[GrandMoM]

WELL, old HITLORY is trying to keep the sinkmister messes cleaned up?....Naaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

[Bonaparte]

As though he's not going to go on trial anyway. Suha Arafat must be heartbroken by this.

[joesnuffy]

Its CYA time for the hildabeast
NOW there is one enormous chore eh?

[Bonaparte]

Come to think of it, this might be a good time to ask the hildebeast if she wants to extradite and try those murdering Puerto Rican terrorists her husand let go. In fact, IIRC, her husband and Janet Reno committed a murderous act of terrorism in Waco and they still haven't been brought to justice for it. I'm sure she would want the murder of all those innocent Americans to be adjudicated, right?

[Timesink]

Flip that flop, you flabby-thighed flotsam of futility. (Hillary, not you GrandMoM.)

[Clara Lou]

I'm just sure that Hillary has no ulterior motive in calling for this prosecution. You believe that, don't you?

[GrandMoM]

Come to think of it, this might be a good time to ask the hildebeast if she wants to extradite and try those murdering Puerto Rican terrorists her husand let go.

....NO, that would be just to much to ask of thunder thighs!

[GrandMoM]

You believe that, don't you?....indeed I do!

[anniegetyourgun]

Part of the payoff to NY Jewish voters? Nah, must just be my cynicism....

[GrandMoM]

Flip that flop, you flabby-thighed flotsam of futility. (Hillary, not you GrandMoM.)

....oh Thanks! for a moment I was worried!

[just me]

Hillary has a Wed site?

[GrandMoM]

Part of the payoff to NY Jewish voters?

....I wondered the same thing !

[GrandMoM]

As though he's not going to go on trial anyway....she has to make herself look good for 2004!

[putupon]

Please consider requiring all future posts regarding that woman include a BARF ALERT

[GrandMoM]

Hillary has a Wed site?

....well, I know she has a WEB site!

[GrandMoM]

Please consider requiring all future posts regarding that woman include a BARF ALERT

....you know, I knew I forgot something!!!!!

[just me]

Caught by the spelling police.... even if it were a simple error.... LOL

[hope]

What's the witch trying to deflect now?

[doug from upland]

Why doesn't everyone in the Bush Administration refuse mail from Hillary. When the postman delivers, you write on it REFUSED, and it gets taken back. They have no need to hear anything from her.

[The Wizard]

try as she might she will alwasy be MRS CLINTON and not EVER President