Bonn Ties String to Hijack Extradition : Says U.S. Must Waive Death Penalty to Get Terrorist Suspect

The United States must waive the death penalty if it wants West Germany to extradite an Arab wanted for air piracy and murder in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner, the government said today.

Mohammed Ali Hamadi, 22, was arrested Tuesday on his arrival in West Germany from Beirut when three bottles of an explosive disguised as a grape drink were found in his hand luggage, authorities said.

Hamadi is one of four Lebanese Shia Muslims charged with piracy and murder by the United States in the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, during which Navy seaman Robert Dean Stethem was beaten and killed and 39 Americans were held hostage for up to 17 days.

Justice Ministry spokesman Juergen Schmid told reporters today that West Germany has received a preliminary U.S. extradition request for Hamadi, a Lebanese-born Palestinian, and could extradite the suspect soon if it gets a formal petition with an indictment.

But Schmid said that under the terms of the 1978 German-American extradition treaty, the United States would have to assure West Germany that Hamadi would not be executed, even if he is convicted and sentenced to death in the United States.

“We can’t deliver anybody if he would face execution,” he said.

If extradited, Hamadi would be the first suspected Middle East terrorist to face charges in the United States.

Schmid said police were probing to determine whether there was a link between Hamadi and a 27-year-old Lebanese arrested by Italian police smuggling explosives through Milan airport earlier this week.