The team of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq are living at a Baghdad hotel owned by terrorist Abu Abbas, whose Palestine Liberation Front rose to international attention when it hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985.
The Bourj al-Hayat, or Tower of Life, is officially registered in the name of Abu Abbas’ wife, Nimr, but Middle East intelligence sources report that the hotel in fact serves as a front for a drug-trafficking operation run by Abu Abbas.
The sources say Abu Abbas runs drugs from Iraq to Kuwait and that a group representing his operation is currently in Colombia, where they are negotiating a cocaine purchase.
Abu Abbas, then a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, masterminded the hijacking of the Achille Lauro while it was cruising in the Mediterranean.
During the hijacking, a crippled American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, was killed by a single shot to his head. His body and his wheelchair were then dumped overboard.
Abu Abbas now enjoys the protection of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and is said to maintain a network of 300 terrorists who can be mobilized for attacks.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
