Abbas Behind Ship Seizing, Hijacker Reportedly Says

One of the four hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro was reported today to have told investigators that Palestine Liberation Front leader Abul Abbas masterminded the hijacking.

Several leading newspapers--including Milan’s Corriere della Sera, La Republica of Rome and the Communist Party paper L’Unita--carried the report on their front pages.

Some reports said the hijacker who was “cooperating” with the interrogators also said Abbas told the four hijackers just before they were arrested in Sicily: “Don’t worry. I will organize attacks and kidnapings against whichever country holds you and will demand an exchange with you.”

Changed His Mind

The reports said one of the four hijackers held in a security jail at Spoleto in central Italy had “decided to talk” to judges investigating the hijacking. They said he told Genoa investigators that Abbas “was our military chief and it was he who directed our group.”

All the newspapers stressed that there was no official confirmation for the report.

Corriere della Sera said the Genoa state prosecutor denied the report. L’Unita quoted investigating judge Luigi Carli as saying: “I can neither confirm nor deny the report. I am forbidden to do so by the law covering judicial secrecy.”

The newspapers said the information came from “leaks,” apparently from sources close to the investigation.

The question of whether Abbas was in charge of the hijackers was the main issue behind the diplomatic row between the United States and Italy that erupted in the aftermath of the hijacking.

Brought to Italy

Abbas and one of his aides was brought to Italy along with the hijackers aboard the Egyptian airliner that was intercepted by U.S. Navy jets over the Mediterranean.

But the government let him leave Italy on grounds that the United States did not produce clear evidence that Abbas did anything more than persuade the hijackers to surrender aboard the Achille Lauro.

The unconfirmed press reports about Abbas’ role in the hijacking were liable to prove embarrassing for Prime Minister-Designate Bettino Craxi when he meets President Reagan on Thursday before attending the conference of industrialized states in New York.

Before the reports appeared, Craxi told reporters late Tuesday in reference to Abbas, “We have no elements that permit us either to declare his non-involvement or his implication in the terrorist attack (the hijacking).”