Air Piracy Trial Opens for Man Convicted of Murder

A convicted murderer, accused of shooting five people, killing two of them, in one of the bloodiest hijackings in history, sat smiling and joking with translators Monday at the start of his trial on charges of air piracy.

Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, a Lebanese-born Palestinian, had an animated conversation with his two court-appointed translators, out of earshot of potential jurors.

The pilot of the Egyptian airliner, in which 58 passengers were killed in Malta in the 1985 hijacking, said Rezaq sang and hummed as he shot his victims, some of whom survived and may testify against him.

Rezaq is accused of executing an Israeli man and an American woman at point-blank range and wounding three others during the hijacking. Rezaq allegedly took charge of the hijacking after an Egyptian sky marshal killed one of his accomplices. The victims’ bodies were dumped onto the tarmac. The hijacking came to a violent end Nov. 24, 1985, when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane. Rezaq was seriously wounded as he tried to escape, while a third hijacker was killed.

In the shootout between the commandos and the hijackers, 58 passengers out of the total 98 passengers and crew on board were killed. One hijacker detonated hand grenades during the gun battle.

Rezaq had been convicted in Malta of the two murders and sentenced to 25 years. Malta released him from prison in February 1993, after he served only seven years, infuriating U.S. officials. Justice Department officials charged he had been released after Libya put pressure on Maltese authorities.

In cooperation with Nigerian officials, FBI agents captured Rezaq in Nigeria in July 1993, after he had been expelled from Ghana. He was flown to Washington to stand trial, and has been jailed since then as the case has been delayed by legal wrangling.

Federal Judge Royce Lamberth, prosecutors and public defenders took care of trial preliminaries Monday as Rezaq sat at the defense table, guarded by a U.S. marshal, throughout a morning hearing.

Lawyers on both sides gave a pool of more than 100 potential jurors a detailed questionnaire on their knowledge of the case and their prejudices. A 12-member jury will be picked as early as today.

Rezaq, 34, faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life if convicted. The trial is expected to last about 2 1/2 weeks.