Habash Complicity in Hijack Known by France, Jewish Congress Charges

The French government had proof of George Habash’s complicity in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France jetliner even as it allowed the Palestinian guerrilla chief to leave the country last week, a major Jewish group said Thursday.

The World Jewish Congress said it was issuing a protest to the French government and demanding to know why Habash was not arrested, said Executive Director Elan Steinberg. Habash’s release has fueled one of the biggest scandals to rock the French government in recent years.

The Jewish group said the French had documentation issued by Habash’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to the Air France hostages.

France’s top anti-terrorism investigator, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, wanted to question Habash when he was allowed into France for emergency medical care last week. But authorities let Habash leave for Tunisia on Saturday because he was not named on any French or international arrest warrant despite attacks known to have been conducted by his group.

One of the attacks widely attributed to the PFLP, which is the second-biggest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, is the 1976 skyjacking of an Air France airliner carrying passengers from Israel to France.

When the plane landed at Entebbe, Uganda, passengers were issued landing cards stamped by the PFLP in English and Arabic, the Jewish group said it has learned.

The French son-in-law of one of the former hostages brought the landing card to the Paris office of the European Jewish Congress as soon as Habash was allowed into France. He also brought his mother-in-law’s passport, which was stamped with the PFLP’s Arabic logo when the French hostages were allowed to leave Entebbe on July 1, 1976.

The remaining passengers were freed in an Israeli commando raid that has become legend for its daring.

The European Jewish Congress sent the two documents to the investigator in the Habash case, but did not get any answer, Steinberg said.