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Gaza, and the West Bank, and at putting an end to heard of his plans to stop over in Saudi Arabia during a
U.S. involvement in the Middle East. U.S. intelligence flight from Khartoum, Sudan, to Tehran, Iran. Saudi
officials have said that Mughniyah planned the 1983 authorities did not respond to U.S. pressure to take
suicide bombings of the U.S. embassy in Beirut and Mughniyah into custody and refused to allow the plane
similar attacks on the Marine Corps barracks and to land. Mughniyah flew safely to Tehran. The U.S.
French paratroopers headquarters in Beirut later that State Department offers a reward of up to $25 million
year. More than 350 people died in the 1983 Beirut dollars for information leading to Mughniyah’s arrest
attacks. He is also said to have played a role in the kid- or conviction.
napping and eventual death in captivity of Beirut CIA
See also FORCE 17; HEZBOLLAH; TWA FLIGHT 847
station chief William Buckley in the 1980s.
HIJACKING; U.S. EMBASSY BOMBING,BEIRUT; U.S.
The United States indicted Mughniyah for involve-
MARINE BARRACKS BOMBING,BEIRUT
ment in the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in
which a U.S. Navy diver was shot at close range and Further Reading
then dumped onto the tarmac of Beirut International
Boustany, Nora. ‘‘We Are . . . Doing Whatever Is Being
Airport. When Flight 847 was finally grounded in
Asked of Us.’’ Washington Post, October 17, 2001, A30.
Algiers, the passengers and crew were held hostage
Bruce, Ian. “Face of Terror Before bin Laden.” The Herald
for more than two weeks until Israeli officials partly
(Glasgow), October 12, 2001, 6.
acceded to the hijackers’ demands for the release of
Cody, Edward. “Anti-Terror Efforts Revive Interest in an Old
hundreds of prisoners, many of them Shiite Muslims. Enemy; FBI List Includes Lebanese Suspect in Past
Mughniyah was also implicated in a chain of Attacks on U.S.” Washington Post, October 31, 2001,A11.
hostage takings in Lebanon from 1984 to 1991. Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Most Wanted Terrorists.”
Mughniyah’s brother-in-law, Mustafa Badreddin, was http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm,
jailed in Kuwait awaiting execution after being tried October 2001.
in 1984 for the 1983 Beirut bombings. The hostages Fiaola, Anthony. “Justice Delayed in Argentine Attack;
were taken in an attempt to barter for Badreddin’s Trial of 20 Suspects Begins Seven Years After Fatal
freedom. Badreddin later escaped from jail during Bombing of Jewish Center.” Washington Post,
September 25, 2001, A19.
Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
Jaber, Hala. Hezbollah. New York: Columbia University
In 1999, the Argentine government issued an inter-
Press, 1997.
national warrant for Mughniyah’s arrest in connection
“A Nation Challenged: The Hunted; The 22 Most Wanted
with the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in
Suspects, in a Five-Act Drama of Global Terror.”
Buenos Aires, which killed 29 people. The embassy New York Times, October 14, 2001, 1B.
was bombed one month after Israeli forces killed Wright, Robin. “Shadowy Lebanese; On the Trail of a Deadly
Hezbollah leader Abbas Musawi, his family, and Terrorist.” Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1988.
bodyguards. Argentine officials further implicated
Mughniyah in the 1994 bombing of a community
center that killed 85 in Buenos Aires. MUHAJIROUN, AL. See AL
Mughniyah has eluded capture for decades and is MUHAJIROUN.
rumored to have had extensive plastic surgery to
change his appearance.
According to a report published in the Washington
Post, just five months after the hijacking of TWA MUJAHEDIN-E-KHALQ
Flight 847, Lebanese security officials traced ORGANIZATION
Mughniyah to Paris. He was staying in a luxury hotel
across the street from the U.S. embassy. The Lebanese aka National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA), the
told U.S. officials of Mughniyah’s presence. However, People’s Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI), National Council
instead of releasing him into U.S. custody, French of Resistance (NCR), Muslim Iranian Student’s
Society
agents met with him several times over six days to
broker an agreement. They eventually released
Mughniyah in return for the freedom of a French In the 1960s, years before Shah Mohammad
hostage. According to further press accounts, Mugh- Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in Iran, college-
niyah also narrowly evaded capture when U.S. officials educated children of Iranian merchants formed the