Greek police on Saturday confirmed the arrest of a Lebanese man accused of involvement in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) plane and the homicide of a US navy officer.
The 65-year-old man, whose title was not disclosed by authorities, was arrested on the Greek island of Mykonos after cops noticed him on Thursday.
According to Greek officers, the person was a fugitive, wished by European authorities after Germany issued an arrest warrant for him.
The Athens News Agency reported that the person was arrested throughout a passport examine for cruise ship passengers. On Friday, he appeared earlier than the prosecutor who ordered his arrest and detention till his extradition to Germany.
The TWA plane was touring from Cairo to San Diego with stops in Athens, Rome, Boston and Los Angeles. It was hijacked after it took off from the Athens airport.
Over 17 days, the pilot of TWA Flight 847 crisscrossed the Mediterranean with 153 passengers and crew members, from Beirut to Algiers and again to Beirut — touchdown in Beirut thrice earlier than he was lastly allowed to cease.
The hijackers reportedly demanded the discharge of 700 Shiite Muslims from Israeli custody. Some analysts claimed they belonged to the Hezbollah militant group, however the Lebanese group denies it.
The Lebanese man allegedly shot useless 23-year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem on June 15, 1985, throughout the plane’s first cease in Beirut.
The passengers had been launched after a number of the captors’ calls for had been met.