A 65-year-old Lebanese man was arrested by Greek police on Saturday on suspicion of involvement in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) plane in which a US navy diver was killed.
A Greek police official said on Saturday the suspect had disembarked from a cruise ship on the island of Mykonos on Thursday and that his name came up as being wanted by German authorities.
He was also wanted in connection with a 1987 kidnapping crime, possibly related to his release in return for the freeing of two German citizens held hostage by his accomplices in Lebanon, the source said.
He has remained a fugitive ever since.
The suspect was being held in a high-security prison until German authorities identify him as the person wanted, the source added.
The TWA 847 flight was travelling from Cairo to San Diego with stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. It was hijacked after it took off from Athens. The hijackers demanded the release of Shi’ite Muslim prisoners from Israeli custody.
The passengers and crew endured a three-day intercontinental ordeal.
The hijackers killed 23-year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem. They released the other 146 passengers and crew members in stages, the last after 17 days.
