Spain Jails Shias Once Demanded by TWA Hijackers
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MADRID — Spain’s National Court today sentenced two Lebanese Shia Muslims--whose freedom had been demanded by the TWA jet hijackers in Lebanon--to 23 years in prison each for wounding a Libyan diplomat a year ago.
The special court, which handles terrorism and other major cases, convicted Mohammed Kahir Abas Rahal, 22, and Mustafa Ali Khalil, 24, of assault with a deadly weapon against Mohammed Ahmed Idriss.
On the second day of the TWA hijacking in Beirut, the Shias responsible demanded, along with freedom for 766 prisoners in Israel, the release of the two in Spain. The demand was later dropped.
Rahal and Khalil told the court they had not intended to kill Idriss in the attack last Sept. 12, but merely to damage his car in revenge for the alleged Libyan kidnaping of Lebanese Shia spiritual leader Iman Moussa Sadr.
Sadr disappeared while on a trip from Rome to Tripoli in 1978.
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