Air Hijacker’s Plea Of Insanity Rejected Palestinian Murderer Convicted Of Air Piracy

A Palestinian man who admitted killing two passengers - including one American - and wounding three others during a 24-hour hijacking in the Mediterranean was convicted of air piracy Friday.

Jurors rejected an insanity plea by Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, who faces life in prison when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court on Oct. 7 by Judge Royce Lamberth.

Rezaq, who commandeered Egypt-Air 648 shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece, on Nov. 23, 1985, argued that he had been driven insane by the Middle East conflict.

In all, 60 people died during the hijacking, including two of the three hijackers. Most passengers were killed when Egyptian commandoes stormed the plane and an explosion went off as the aircraft sat on a runway on the island of Malta.

Rezaq was tried in the United States under federal anti-terrorism statutes that permit prosecution when Americans are victimized.

He was charged and convicted with a number of crimes in Malta, served seven years in prison there and was released. He was arrested by FBI agents in 1993 in Nigeria.

Rezaq’s attorney argued to the jury that Rezaq was a sensitive youth corrupted by constant violence and blistering political rhetoric.

“He did do it. He was at the end of a period of suicidal despair and incredible depression,” public defender Robert Tucker said during his opening statement.

Tucker said Rezaq, who grew up under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, “snapped” because of post traumatic stress syndrome.

After Rezaq and his two companions forced the plane down in Malta, they announced that they were members of the Egyptian Revolutionary Organization, a group that was opposed to the Camp David agreement signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, prosecutors said.

They argued Rezaq was in complete control at all times during the hijacking.

The hijackers demanded enough fuel to fly to another destination and told authorities they would kill one passenger every 15 minutes until they got it, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Valder.

Maltese officials repeatedly denied the request over the course of the hijacking, Valder said, and Rezaq carried out his threat with five of the passengers, killing two women - one of them American - and wounding three others in the head.

“He shot them simply because they were American or Israeli,” he said.