The Nation - News from March 10, 1989

A federal prosecutor told a jury that while Lebanon was torn with internal strife in 1985 and Amal militiaman Fawaz Younis may have been upset about it, “that doesn’t mean you can hijack a plane to broadcast it.” But a defense lawyer, in closing arguments at Younis’ trial on charges of leading the seizure of a Royal Jordanian airliner, implored jurors to acquit the 30-year-old Lebanese of charges carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The case, scheduled to go to the jury today, represents the first test of 1984 and 1986 U.S. anti-terrorism laws giving the FBI so-called “long-arm” jurisdiction to investigate acts abroad when Americans are victimized.