3 Hijackers Identified by Lebanon

The state radio today said the government has ordered three men prosecuted in the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, and publicly identified the reputed sky pirates for the first time.

One American was killed, and 39 passengers and crew members were held hostage for 17 days after the June 14 hijacking of the TWA jet.

In its 11 a.m. news broadcast, government-owned Lebanese radio said the names of the three men have been “referred to the competent judicial authorities” in the Mt. Lebanon part of Beirut, which includes the international airport.

The news item was dropped without explanation from further broadcasts. Government sources, who insisted on anonymity, said this was done because of instructions “from above.”

No Affiliation Revealed

The broadcast did not link the men with any organization, but it was widely believed they belonged to Hezbollah, or Party of God, a fundamentalist Shia Muslim group that has claimed responsibility for earlier acts of terrorism.

State radio named the hijackers as Ali Atwi, Ali Younis and Ahmed Gharibeh but said it had no further information about them or about an unspecified number of other accomplices.

The radio said nothing about their being in custody, or whether warrants for them had been issued in the hijacking.

“The names were referred as a prelude to prosecuting them and to take adequate legal procedures against them,” the radio said, without citing sources.

Disarray of Judicial System

Political analysts questioned whether the hijackers could be brought to trial because of the disarray of Lebanon’s judicial system, headed by Shia Muslim leader Nabih Berri, who also commands the country’s biggest private army.

In Washington, White House spokesman Larry Speakes welcomed today’s radio announcement as “a step forward.”

“We’ll be watching with close interest to see what is now actually done to prosecute them,” he said. “We would applaud whatever progress the Lebanese authorities could make on this pressing matter.”

Asked whether the Reagan Administration would prefer that the hijack suspects be tried in Lebanon or in the United States, Speakes said the government has not expressed a preference.

‘We Will Take Action’

In another matter related to international terrorism, Speakes today confirmed a Washington Post report that the Administration is discussing the risks, benefits and timing of reprisals and that the President “now believes military force should be a component of that response.”