Izz al Din, Hassan (1963–)

For his alleged role in the 1985 hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 847, Hassan Izz al Din (aka Ahmed Garbaya; Sa-id; Samir Salwwan), a native of Lebanon, was placed on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists. A hijacker convicted in the TWA case testified that Izz al Din killed a U.S. Navy diver during the two-week ordeal.

The FBI believes that Izz al Din returned to Lebanon after the hijacking. While he was tied to the Shiite Muslim militant group and political party Hezbollah during the 1980s, Lebanese officials have claimed that he is not currently linked to Hezbollah's party structure. (Although the U.S. government continues to regard Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, the group recast itself as a legitimate political party during [Page 310]the 1990s and holds elected seats in Lebanon's Parliament.)

According to U.S. officials, Izz al Din was one of the two hijackers who took over Flight 847 from Athens to Rome on June 14, 1985. The two men's weapons included a pistol and hand grenades they had smuggled through Athens airport security. The hijackers redirected the Boeing 727 to Beirut. After the plane landed, the hijackers called for the release of hundreds of prisoners, many of them Shiite Muslims, held by Israel. Mohammed Ali Hamadei, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1989 by a West German court for his role in the hijacking, testified that at this point Izz al Din shot U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem and dumped his body onto the tarmac.

The plane eventually logged 8,300 miles, flying between Beirut and Algiers. The hijackers released some of the 153 passengers and crew held hostage each time the plane landed. Eventually, the plane stayed in Beirut while negotiations were under way. On June 30, the last of the hostages was released after Israel agreed to free 300 prisoners. The hijackers had also negotiated a flight to Algiers and freedom for themselves. The United States indicted Izz al Din, Hamadei, Imad Fayez Mughniyah, and Ali Atwa on July 3, 1985, on charges related to the hijacking. Hamadei was later caught in Frankfurt and sentenced to life in prison, while Mughniyah was killed by a car bomb in Syria in 2008.

Izz al Din has avoided capture for decades. Press reports in 1994 told of failed U.S. efforts to kidnap him from his Beirut home and bring him by speedboat to a U.S. warship in the Mediterranean. As of 2010, Atwa also remained on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list. The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Izz al Din's arrest or conviction.