SOFREP History: The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro and the US Navy’s Dramatic Intervention

On October 7, 1985, the tranquil Mediterranean cruise of the Italian ship MS Achille Lauro turned into an international crisis when four Palestinian terrorists stormed the vessel.

The ship, carrying over 400 people, was taken hostage just off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. Their demands? The release of 50 Palestinian militants imprisoned in Israel.

What followed over the next few days would become one of the most dramatic hostage situations of the 1980s—culminating in a US Navy fighter jet intercepting the terrorists’ escape on October 10.

The Hijacking: A Calm Day Turns into Chaos

The Achille Lauro set sail from Genoa, Italy, on October 3, 1985, for a routine 12-day Mediterranean cruise with 748 passengers and several hundred crew members on board. By October 7, the cruise ship had docked at Alexandria, Egypt, where 651 passengers disembarked to tour the pyramids, planning to rejoin the ship at Port Said that evening.

After the majority of the passengers had gone ashore, four members of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) armed with AK-47s boarded and took control of the ship, making it very clear that they were deadly serious about their demands.

Immediately, they held the remaining 97 passengers and crew hostage while forcing the captain to leave port. The crew was allowed to continue their duties under the hijackers’ watchful eyes.

Identifying themselves as part of the PLF, a militant group, the hijackers demanded the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Tensions quickly rose as they threatened to blow up the ship and kill the 11 Americans on board if their demands were not met.

By October 8, they expanded their threats to include British passengers as well. Among the hostages was Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old American confined to a wheelchair, who would tragically become the face of this hijacking.

As the ship headed toward Syria, after receiving no response from Israel to their demands, the hijackers brutally shot and killed Klinghoffer, then callously dumped his body and wheelchair overboard in a grim act of violence.

The cold-blooded murder of Klinghoffer, a Jewish-American tourist, was believed to be a targeted act due to his religion.

Syria Turns Away the Hijackers

The hijackers’ initial plan was to negotiate in Syria, but upon arrival in the port of Tartus, Syria refused to allow the Achille Lauro to dock.

With options narrowing, the hijackers issued further threats but agreed to travel to Port Said, Egypt, for negotiations.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts were ramping up between the United States, Egypt, Italy, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Oddly enough, Yasser Arafat’s PLO condemned the hijacking and sent negotiators to help resolve the situation. Arafat was the chairman of the PLO, serving from 1969 to 2004, and later the president of the Palestinian National Authority.

By October 9, the hijackers surrendered to Egyptian authorities in exchange for a guarantee of safe passage to an undisclosed location. For a brief moment, it seemed like the crisis was coming to a peaceful end.

US Navy Intercepts the Escape

However, the US wasn’t about to let the hijackers go free.

On October 10, just as the four terrorists, along with several others including Mohammed Abbas (a key figure in the PLF), boarded an EgyptAir flight out of Cairo, the US launched one of the most dramatic military interventions of the time.

At President Ronald Reagan’s command, US Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters from the Lexington-class aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) were dispatched to intercept the plane.

In an extraordinary show of force and precision, the F-14s located the EgyptAir flight over the Mediterranean, forcing it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily.

American and Italian forces surrounded the plane, arresting the hijackers and bringing an end to the tense standoff.

Justice is Served… Sort of

While the hijackers were taken into custody, the aftermath of the incident wasn’t without controversy.

Mohammed Zaidan (also known as Mohammed Abbas or Abu), who had been on the plane, was released due to complex diplomatic wrangling, sparking outrage in the US, where officials believed he was involved in planning the hijacking.

Later, in 1986, the four hijackers—Youssef Magied al-Molqui (23), Ahmad Marrouf al-Assadi (23), Ibrahim Fatayer Abdelatif (20), and Bassam al-Askar (17)—were tried in Italy along with 11 accomplices. The Italian court convicted the three eldest with prison sentences ranging from 15 to 30 years, while the youngest, al-Askar, was tried separately.

Zaidan, the mastermind behind the hijacking, was tried in absentia along with eight others. After admitting his role in the crime, he was eventually located in Iraq during the 2003 invasion and died in custody the following year.

The Italian court’s judgment drew a stark line between those who carried out the hijacking and those who masterminded it. The hijackers, the court ruled, had acted for “patriotic motives” but were ultimately pawns in a much larger political game designed to weaken Arafat’s PLO. Zaidan, on the other hand, was seen as the true villain of the piece, orchestrating the hijacking for his own political ends.

Closing Thoughts: A Turning Point in Terrorism

The hijacking of the Achille Lauro was a watershed moment in the global fight against terrorism.

It highlighted the vulnerability of civilians in international waters, the complexity of Middle Eastern politics, and the lengths to which nations like the US were willing to go to bring terrorists to justice.

The US Navy’s interception of the EgyptAir flight remains one of the most famous military actions of its kind and demonstrated a new level of international coordination in the fight against terrorism.

But perhaps most importantly, the death of Leon Klinghoffer serves as a reminder of the innocent lives caught in the crossfire of global politics and the tragic human cost of terrorism. His name became synonymous with the senseless violence that defined much of the latter half of the 20th century.

Today, the memory of the Achille Lauro hijacking still lingers as a stark reminder of the challenges the world faces in confronting terrorism and ensuring justice for its victims.

—

Disclaimer: SOFREP utilizes AI for image generation and article research. Occasionally, it’s like handing a chimpanzee the keys to your liquor cabinet. It’s not always perfect and if a mistake is made, we own up to it full stop. In a world where information comes at us in tidal waves, it is an important tool that helps us sift through the brass for live rounds.