Pakistan on Thursday deported four Palestinian hijackers involved in hijacking of American airliner in 1986, after spending 22 years in Adiala Jail. The Palestinian hijackers namely Muhammad Ahmed al Munawar, Jamal Saeed, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain and Dawood Muhammad Hafiz were handed over to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The FIA handed them over to Palestinian officials at Islamabad International Airport, who boarded the hijackers on an Emirates Airlines flight to take them back to Palestine. The Palestinian hijackers had hijacked a Panam flight 747 and brought it to Karachi. Pakistani law enforcement agencies in a commando action had taken control of the airliner. Eleven persons had died during the commando 2action.
These hijackers were tried in the court of law and were awarded death sentence by the court in 1988, which was commuted to life term when former prime minister Benazir Bhutto announced amnesty for prisoners during her first term in the office in 1989.
These Palestinians have spent 22 years in jail, which is more than the exact sentence they had to face. The fifth hijacker and group leader Zaid Hassan Abdul Lateef was released from Adiala Jail in 2001, but he was arrested by American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from Bangkok and was awarded three-fold life term by American court in 2003 and is languishing in American jail even after spending over 15 years in Pakistani jail. The Palestinian hijackers had demanded release of the Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.