Mohammed Hamadei, the Lebanese standing trial in Frankfurt for the hijacking of a TWA airliner in 1985, admitted Tuesday that he participated in that hijacking to Beirut.
But he denied any complicity in the murder of Robert Stethem, the American Navy diver who was brutally killed on board and whose body was dumped on the airport tarmac.
Hamadei blamed Israel’s “criminal acts” for the decision to enact the crime.
Hamadei’s dramatic confession came as a surprise to the West German judges, who are hearing the case in Frankfurt’s top-security prison where he is being held.
“This could be a turning point in this trial,” the chairman of the court said.
Hamadei is being tried in juvenile court because of uncertainty about his actual age at the time of the crime.
Hamadei declined to give the names of other participants in the hijacking, nor would he say who organized the crime. Trying to justify his action, Hamadei said that his aim was to free Lebanese people allegedly tortured in Israeli prisons.
“If what I did was a crime,” he said, “this was nothing but a response to continuous criminal acts by Israel.”
Hamadei said he and his group decided to hit the United States because it was Israel’s main supporter and shared responsibility for what he called the Jewish state’s criminal behavior.
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