U.S. and Syria Cooperating in Attempt to Determine if Body Washed Ashore Near Syria is Klinghoffer’s

United States and Syrian officials are working together in an attempt to determine whether the body of a man that washed ashore near the Syrian port of Tartus is that of Leon Klinghoffer, the American Jew slain by the hijackers of the cruise ship Achille Lauro last week, the State Department said today.

Department deputy spokesman Charles Redman said that if it turns out to be Klinghoffer, the Syrians have promised to turn the body over to the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. “We are working very closely (with the Syrians) and it has been a very cooperative relationship in attempting to make this identification,” Redman said.

Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old stroke victim confined to a wheelchair, was shot on the deck of the ocean liner and thrown overboard while his wife, Marilyn, and the other hostage passengers were in a dining room on an upper deck.

Redman said that the U.S. would continue in its search for Muhammad Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) official it has charged with masterminding the hijacking of the Italian ship.

Although there were reports today that Abbas was in South Yemen, Redman said this could not be confirmed. “We have made clear our determination to bring Mr. Abbas to justice regardless where-ever he may turn up,” Redman said. When asked if extralegal methods were ruled out, he replied, “we’ll take any steps that are possible.” However, Redman indicated that the U.S. is still not certain that Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat is behind the hijacking even though Abbas is a close adviser and heads the pro-Arafat faction of the PLF, the group to which the four hijackers of the ship belonged. Redman said the PLO role in the hijacking is “unclear, uncertain.”

Redman also indicated this when he said that Yugoslavia had not yet given any formal reply to the U.S. request to extradite Abbas to the U.S. Noting that the U.S. was “disappointed” that Yugoslavia allowed Abbas to leave, Redman said, “We are aware that Yugoslavia has had close relationships with the PLO. But we would find it difficult to understand if the Yugoslav government chose to equate its treatment of this individual who was clearly implicated in a terrorist plot with its relationship with the PLO as a whole.”

Redman said that the warrant obtained in a U.S. District court here for Abbas charges him with hostogetaking, piracy and conspiracy. He said the evidence presented has been sealed.

REAGAN WON’T APOLOGIZE TO EGYPT

Meanwhile, Redman indicated that President Reagan would not send an apology to Egypt as demanded by President Hosni Mubarak yesterday over the U.S. diverting the Egyptian plane carrying the four Palestinian hijackers to Italy.

“We explained at some length why we felt compelled to take the action,” Redman said. “What is important now is to put it behind us and concentrate on the larger issues, especially our shared commitment to peace in the Middle East.”

Redman said the U.S. also continued to preserve its close alliance with Italy although it has criticized it for allowing Abbas to leave for Yugoslavia. “We want to preserve our good overall relationship which is based on shared interests, which transcends this incident,” he said. He noted that Secretary of State George Shultz met with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Andreotti today in Brussels.