Palestinian Found Guilty in 1985 Hijacking Deaths

A Palestinian man who admitted killing two passengers and wounding three others during a hijacking that left 60 people dead was convicted of air piracy Friday.

Jurors rejected an insanity plea by Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, who faces life in prison when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court on Oct. 7 by Judge Royce Lamberth.

Rezaq, who commandeered EgyptAir Flight 648 shortly after takeoff from Athens on Nov. 23, 1985, argued that he was driven insane by the Middle East conflict.

One American and two of the three hijackers were among the fatalities. Most passengers were killed when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane and an explosion went off as the aircraft sat on a runway on the island of Malta.

Rezaq was tried in the United States under federal anti-terrorism statutes that permit prosecution when Americans are victimized.

He was convicted of a number of crimes in Malta, served seven years in prison there and was released. He was arrested by FBI agents in 1993 in Nigeria.

Defense attorney Robert Tucker said Rezaq, who grew up under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, “snapped” because of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

After Rezaq and his two companions forced the plane down in Malta, they announced that they were members of the Egyptian Revolutionary Organization, a group that was opposed to the Camp David agreement signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, prosecutors said.

They argued that Rezaq was in complete control at all times during the hijacking.

The hijackers demanded enough fuel to fly to another destination and told authorities they would kill one passenger every 15 minutes until they got it, Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph Valder said.

Maltese officials repeatedly denied the request over the course of the hijacking, Valder said, and Rezaq carried out his threat.

“He shot them simply because they were American or Israeli,” Valder said.

The fathers of Israeli Nitzan Mendelson and American Scarlett Rogenkamp, the two passengers Rezaq killed, quietly shook hands, the Washington Post reported. “I am satisfied,” said Gabriel Mendelson of Haifa, Israel. He attended much of the trial of the man who shot his only daughter in the back of the head.