LONDON, Jan 19 (JTA) — 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.
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