To play "devil's advocate," she sought the limelight media attention with all she had and w

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federal earmarks to fund research on halibut and baby seals. (Maybe to determine correct size of club?)

Hijacker Sought By U.S. Released
Germany Frees Hezbollah Member Who Killed Md. Sailor in '85 Plot

By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; A23

BERLIN, Dec. 20 -- The German government disclosed Tuesday that it had freed a Hezbollah member who had been convicted of hijacking a TWA airliner in 1985, allowing him to return to his native Lebanon despite long-standing requests from the United States to hand him over for trial.

Mohammed Ali Hammadi, 41, walked out of a German prison on Thursday after a parole board concluded that he was eligible for early release, German officials said. His parole prompted a protest from the State Department.

Hammadi served nearly 19 years of a life sentence for air piracy, possession of explosives and the murder of Robert Dean Stethem, a U.S. sailor from Waldorf, Md. Stethem, a passenger on board TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome, was singled out for brutal treatment by the hijackers because of his military service.

Organized by the radical Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, the hijacking was one of the most publicized terrorist attacks on a U.S. target in the 1980s. It lasted for 17 days as the plane, with dozens of hostages aboard, shuttled between airports in the Mediterranean.

The German government said Hammadi's parole had nothing to do with the case of a German hostage in Iraq who was let go by her captors on Sunday. A brother of Hammadi was convicted in the 1980s of kidnapping Westerners in the Middle East in an attempt to pressure German authorities to release him.

The family of the American petty officer, who was beaten and fatally shot by the hijackers, expressed disappointment Tuesday that one of his killers was free. To have commuted his sentence -- it just doesn't make sense, his mother, Patricia Stethem, said in a telephone interview. They're dealing with terrorists. They've released him back to Lebanon. . . . He's back where he can join up with the Hezbollah organization again.

The State Department said Tuesday that the U.S government still wanted to put Hammadi on trial, based on a 1985 indictment. Three other Lebanese men named in the indictment remain at large and are on the FBI's most wanted list of terrorist suspects, with $5 million rewards for their capture.

Current and former American officials said they had pushed for two decades to gain custody of Hammadi and try him in a U.S. courtroom, but they ran into political and legal resistance from Germany. U.S. prosecutors originally sought Hammadi's extradition after he was arrested at the Frankfurt airport in 1987, but Germany denied the request and put him on trial locally instead.

We were certainly disappointed at the time that we didn't get our hands on him then, and we are disappointed now that he has been released before the end of his full sentence, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. We have demonstrated over the years that when we believe an individual is responsible for the murder of innocent American civilians, that we will track them down and that we will bring them to justice in the United States.

A spokeswoman for the German Justice Ministry said there were no pending requests for Hammadi's extradition at the time of his release. McCormack turned aside questions about that, saying he was not a lawyer. He said the State Department was notified of Hammadi's release before he reached Lebanon, but the spokesman did not specify when.

Legal experts said it was doubtful that Germany could have transferred him to U.S. custody. Under German law, defendants cannot be retried for crimes for which they have already been convicted, even if they are prosecuted in another country.

Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. McCormack was asked if the United States would seek to obtain custody of Hammadi through a process known as rendition, in which the CIA apprehends suspects and flies them out of the country without judicial procedures. He replied that he could not answer the question from this podium.

Court officials in Frankfurt said Hammadi was freed after a regularly scheduled review of his case by parole officials. They would not say why they waited until after he had returned to Lebanon to make the decision public.

The German hostage freed in Iraq on Sunday was Susanne Osthoff, an Arabic-speaking archaeologist who had lived there for years. There is no connection between these two cases, said Martin Jaeger, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry. The identity of Osthoff's kidnappers remains unclear, and German officials have not divulged any details about her time in captivity.

Hammadi is a member of an influential Lebanese family that is active in Hezbollah, which was blamed for a wave of kidnappings in the 1980s, including those of several Germans.

Hammadi's brother, Abbas, was arrested in Germany in 1987 and charged with helping to kidnap two German businessmen in a bid to use them as bargaining chips for Mohammed Hammadi's freedom. Abbas Hammadi was released in 1993 after serving half of his sentence.

At the time, German news media reported that he was let go as part of a deal between the German government and Hezbollah to release two other Germans held hostage in Lebanon. German officials denied that assertion.

Mohammed Hammadi was charged with being one of two hijackers who seized the TWA plane in Athens. He escaped after the hijacking but was arrested at the Frankfurt airport on Jan. 13, 1987, after security agents discovered liquid explosives in his luggage.

In his trial, witnesses testified that after the hijackers discovered that Stethem was a U.S. sailor, Hammadi and an accomplice beat him until he collapsed. Hammadi was seen carrying the handgun that was used to fatally shoot the 23-year-old American. Prosecutors said they never established who pulled the trigger.

A panel of German judges sentenced Hammadi to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 15 years.

Victoria Toensing, a former Justice Department official in the Reagan administration who oversaw efforts to extradite Hammadi in 1987, said German authorities threw obstacles in the way of U.S. prosecutors at that time and only reluctantly cooperated.

They were not open at all, she recalled. We knew he would be released early, way back then.

Staff writers John Burgess and Glenn Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.

and which ones do you think are the most ridiculous? Fox News, NYT, AP, Wash. Post, CNN, your choice.

I can remember when republicans attacked Hiliary and Chelsea big time. Dont you remember? So, now that someone has attacked Bush, his daughters and wife (seems like quite a bit is not attack but truth), the poster is wrong. Geez, I can remember when I would read awful attacks on Chelsea, who was only a child while in the White House, and I often thought all this is gonna affect her self esteem. Hiliary has been a punching bag and continues to be from the right wing. So, can we all get over it? Politics is tough and yes both sides attack, even personally (really..wow??) the other side. From the posts I have read between these two (GT and MT), me thinks one has a grudge against the other and that to me is ridiculous and tiring to read. So, kiddies, can we all play nicely in the sand box?

So by your reasoning if a child molestor had molested a child many years ago....you would be okay with the person teaching young children? Because that person has a right to privacy and if they are qualified to teach...their prior history should not be of any concern?

I'm sorry but there are exceptions to every rule here. A person who willingly, knowingly, and admittingly helped blow up several buildings while running a terrorist group should have no right to be a teacher or instructor to any students......period.

What I'm tired of - denial. Widespread total denial, even as live as we've known it crumbles to ashes.

Take the healthcare mess. Lobbyists of insurance and pharmaceutical companies buying the vote of every senator and congressman in Washington to keep the status quo. The people we elected to office taking bribes to betray the very people that elected them. I am sick of knowing that no matter how much I pay in insurance premiums, when the time comes for a claim to get paid, big business will find any loophole to deny the claim and bankrupt me - and they get legislated more loopholes every day by anybody I vote for. And if I am unlucky enough to have a disease that requires a procedure to save my life, the "loss prevention" department at any insurer I pay will diligently seek reason to deny that procedure as "unnecessary" so I will do without the procedure and die. All Washington can do is lie and deny about the healthcare situation.

The lie that the more the government spends on "defense", the safer we are. I found out after Katrina just how safe I was, just how much my government would take care of me, and just what fun living under martial law is. I have learned just how much respect for our enlisted men the government has as they deny insurance claims to their families if they die in action, and force them to pay back sign-on bonuses if they are careless enough to get hurt on the job and have to be removed from duty before their stint is up. I have learned how much are government cares for our other heros, as they deny 9/11 rescue workers healthcare, while providing the best healthcare that can be bought for the terrorists they have incarcerated. Whatever the government claims to be defending, it is not you and me, it is the interests of the big businesses that have bought their vote. Oh, and PLEASE, search every sweet little grandmother that gets on any plane going anywhere - that'll make me feel real safe, because nothing can possibly go wrong with a flight if all the American passengers are treated like criminals before they board it. Keeping the sky safe is all we need, since our borders are so secure that no terrorist could possibly sneak into the country by any other means, like our illegal aliens do!

I am sick of profiteers getting bailed out at the expense of the little guy. I am disgusted to watch incompetence be rewarded and responsibility punished. I am tired of watching people lose their homes, jobs and way of life - while we legislate billions to keep the corporate profits strong, and swallow the propaganda that offshoring our jobs to other countries is a good thing.

I am sick of the war on drugs. How many years and how much mony have been spent on this, yet we are not winning it, so lets just keep throwing money at it and surely someday we'll win. Certainly a DEA agent would never take a bribe or feel any greed like the folks in Washington do.

I am tired of the welfare system and the corruption within it. I am tired of reporting fraud just to be shushed because it causes too much paperwork for them to investigate. I am tired of hearing how anyone can get a government check for threadbare reasons such as questionable mental disabilities, drug/alcohol addiction, or simply the desire to breed irresponsibly until their reproductive organs give up the game. I'm sick of us giving welfare to anyone that strolls into our country illegally and sticks out their hand. I'm 49, I am assured that there will be nothing left for me when I am old and ill, and I have paid into the system all my life. I am also assured that no matter how much wealth I may amass to try to pay my own way, health care costs will continue to skyrocket past it and any illness at all will financially wipe me out, so the best I can hope for is a quick, severe illness that kills me before I'm penniless and homeless.

I am tired of charities that bombard us with heartwrenching commercials - then turn around and pay any contributions we give to CEOs, advertising, and overhead - only then maybe a few cents will actually be left over for the pitiful victims we intended to help.

I am sick of the environmentalists, PETA activists and vegans. Get real, folks. We can't even stop being barbaric to other humans - considering the way we treat our heros, veterans, children, elderly, poor, disaster victims, mentally ill and homeless - do you seriously think we'll become misty eyed about a marshland or an animal? Well, obviously some of us find it preferable to caring about other humans. But your lectures regarding what will we leave our future generations and where is our conscience also apply to the national debt and all the other problems we continue to allow to escalate. So which fire needs to be put out first, would it be possible to actually define and prioritize all the issues intead of just jumping on your bandwagon?

I'm also tired of hearing about the horrific conditions in other countries - imagine taking an interest in what's wrong with our own country before we go fixing everybody else on the planet!

I am tired of being politically correct. We are sooo, sooo worried about offending "someone", and a slip of the tongue in front of a camera can ruin a career....but we have no problem taking away anyone's livelihood, housing, self-respect, dignity, health or even their life if it stands in the way of corporate profit. So why keep up the pretense that we care how anyone feels?

I am tired of going to the polls to vote for people who claim to stand for something, but are prepared to change their mind the minute they hit Washington and the bribes start rolling in. I am tired of having no good choices on election day, and no candidate that I have any faith in actually making it on the ballot. I am tired of knowing that any candidate from any party that makes it to Washington will be on a lobbyist's payroll before they cast their first vote on any issue, so whoever I vote for will put the highest bidder's interests first.

I am tired of the widespread apathy of my fellow citizens, who waste their brainpower on entertainment and fluff, instead of questioning the system and working to change it. I am tired of greed that has taken over every aspect of this country. I am tired of a society that worships wealth, celebrity and beauty for all the wrong reasons. I am weary of everyone being in debt up to their eyeballs, one paycheck away from total financial anniliation, and thinking its a sensible way to live because "everybody" does it. After all, our national leaders show us by example that the solution to huge debt is borrowing more money without a thought for tomorrow, and daily the media assures us those guys really know what they're doing! I am tired of conspicuous consumption and planned obsolesence. I am sick of the skyrocketing costs of education and transportation. I am sick that everything I voluntarily purchase or involuntarily contribute to via taxes has been deberately engineered by some corporate fat-cat to cost me more and give me less than it did yesterday.

Sign me - Just another unheard voice in the land of the deceived, home of the naive.

I prefer the LA Times version, though I don't really like them. Their article did not try to deliberately mislead.

despite how many times I tell you it has nothing to do with what my Christian beliefs are, other than my belief in Christ strengthens my moral resolve. Abortion is morally wrong and it is on that level that I most strenuously oppose it. I have no reason to believe that if I parted ways with God as you have that my moral convictions would go with Him. I had moral convictions before I knew Christ. All knowing Him has done is strengthen them.

You have morals, right? Has nothing to do with religion, as you don't have a belief in God, right? You and He parted ways a long time ago didn't you say? Did your morals go with Him? Of COURSE they didn't. You think war is morally wrong. That does not come from any religion in you does it? NO. It comes from your morality. The same place my exception to abortion comes from. There are many people against abortion on moral grounds who aren't Christians.

You ignored my question again. Do you think war is ever justified? Was the Revolutionary War? Was the Civil War? ANY war?

Just as you think it is a shame war casualties do you light a fire in my heart like millions of aborted children, I think it is a shame that aborted children don't light a fire in yours.

Geeezzzz piglet. Is there a GOOD way to murder a baby? I don't think so!! I don't care how they do it...it still kills them. Murder is rarely done in a "humane" manner. It would not be more palatable to me no matter how it was done. I mention how it is done because you continue to talk about maimed and mangled and bloody war casualties. That is why I bring the point that that is exactly what abortion does...maim, mangle, torture, and kill. Neither is pretty. Both are ugly, and both end with death. Would you want pictures of aborted babies on the 6:00 news? Would you like live video footage of a late term partial birth abortion with your evening meal? Perhaps we could have a half hour of war victims and a half hour of abortions?

I think you are wrong about abortion going underground. Women would start going to Mexico or to whatever state abortions were available. But at least the woman still has a choice of an illegal abortion or carrying the child. The child NEVER gets a choice. In your world that is fair. In mine, it is not. That being said, I realistically do not believe that we will ever live in a country again where abortion is illegal nationwide. I do not believe it will happen. That does not mean I will not continue to speak out against it or work with organizations to give women a choice other than abortion. And if called upon to vote for or against...it will be against. Just like I would not vote to legalize murder. Or theft. It is just amazing to me how outside the womb it is a crime to kill a child, inside the womb it is open season. Freaking amazing. That is why in a partial birth abortion they have to force a breech delivery, then pull back skin of neck, insert needle and suck the brain out, to collapse the skull, while the head is still inside the mother. So that the baby is dead when it is "delivered." If the head was out before that procedure, by law the child has been "born" and to kill it then would be murder. So, to be "legal," have to suck the brain out while the head still inside. Sick.

Going to war is not a unilateral decision. It requires a majority of Congress. Abortion requires a majority of one. Giving one human being total control and choice to take the life of another is morally wrong. Any other time that happens we call it murder without blinking an eye.

You said, Truman and Kennedy and even Johnson were real Democrats, not like those of today. And I said the same holds true for republicans. I was answering your post to show you it goes both ways. Got it now?

they have blacked out the information that they got in those memos for national security reasons. You know....I would be curious to see what you would say if you found out that your life was actually one of the ones saved by "torturing" terrorists.

As far as I'm concerned, you behead Americans that you capture, than the people we capture of yours can be subjected to anything we want and to he!! with you.....but that is just me.

The Jordan Times has his whole speech written up and I don't see those words there.

I did see some very interesting things, though, when he talked about Islam, religion, Muslins, etc.