Abu Abbas, now an Arafat intimate, feels no remorse for Klinghoffer killing

RAMALLAH [Middle East Newsline] -- A Palestinian faction leader, who has become the latest companion of Palestinain Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, says he doesn't regret his 1985 order to hurl an elderly American Jew off a cruiseliner into the Mediterranean.

As Mohammed Abu Abbas sees it, war is hell and he's not to blame for Leon Klinghoffer's death in the Palestinian faction's hijacking of the Achille Lauro.

"I do not feel remorse," Abu Abbas said in an interview. "Everybody makes mistakes in war. Just two days ago, NATO missiles struck the Chinese Embassy and the Israelis raided the innocent people in Lebanese camps.

Sources said Abul Abbas has become a companion of Arafat and has accompanied the PA chairman on recent trips.

Abu Abbas regards the Achille Lauro episode as a mistake. The plan by his Palestinian Liberation Front was to land on the Israeli port of Ashdod and carry out a strike.

"But a mistake was made," said Abu Abbas, who appeared at ease as he recalled the episode. "Our fighters were discovered. Another mistake then was made when they decided to take control over the ship [Achille Lauro]."

"We never had planned to hijack a ship," he added. "We never thought of any war plans outside the Palestinian lands. We wished that the program had not failed and then the warriors could have achieved their goals."

As Abu Abbas sees it, the Achille Lauro was blown out of proportion by Israel and its supporters in the United States. He said his freedom of movement in the region has not been affected by the episode.

Israeli government sources acknowledge that they have not sought a warrant for Abu Abbas's arrest. U.S. diplomats said Washington has not issued a formal transfer request to the PA.

In 1996, however, Spanish and Italian authorities helped capture Majid Al-Molqi in Spain. Al-Molqi was involved in the Achille Lauro hijacking.

Abu Abbas has become a favorite of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Since his arrival to Gaza a year ago, the two men are said to have met frequently.

The PLF faction leader has also been allowed to organize rallies, which are frequently covered in the PA-controlled media. On Thursday evening, the PLF organized a rally in Gaza City to commemorate the anniversary of its founding. Palestinian sources said Arafat was to have attended but sent an envoy instead.

For his part, Abu Abbas, who just returned from a visit to Iraq, does not rule out more attacks on Israel. He said it all depends whether the Palestinians gain their rights.

"If all options are closed before the Palestinians to get their rights, then only God knows what the Palestinians would do," he said.

Abu Abbas sees the current calm as a Palestinian opportunity to allow negotiations with Israel to result in a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital as well as the return of refugees to their homes in Israel. "This is a development and not a change," he said. "The idea is to give the Palestinian negotiators an opportunity to gain Palestinian national rights."

Still, Abu Abbas is opposed to the 1993 interim self-rule accords with Israel, which the Palestinians said expired on May 4. "We are not with the Oslo accords because it falls far short of our people's ambitions," he said. "We voted against it but took a decision to stay inside PLO, especially when the Oslo accord became a fact on the ground."

Abu Abbas says the PA's priority is to build a Palestinian state. The Palestinian aim is to try the peaceful approach.

"We stopped the military work to give credibility to the Palestinian Authority, without cancelling other options," he added.