By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File staff writer

Washington -- U.S. Army Special Forces troops, supported by elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, captured Palestinian terrorist Muhammad Abbas, who is also known as Abu Abbas, the secretary general of the terrorist group Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), a U.S. Central Command spokesman says.

At a CENTCOM briefing April 16, Army Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said Abbas, captured in southern Baghdad April 14, was the key planner in the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in October 1985. American Leon Klinghoffer was murdered in the hijacking, Brooks said. An Italian court later tried Abbas in absentia and sentenced him to life in prison.

"Abu Abbas is a terrorist," Brooks said. "He was a terrorist. He remains a terrorist. And he will be viewed as such. Notwithstanding any declarations that have been made in recent years, his role in terrorism, his links to terrorist organizations, are abundantly clear."

Brooks said another aspect of the Abbas capture is that he was found in Baghdad, supporting the U.S. position that the former regime of Saddam Hussein harbored terrorists.

A CENTCOM announcement about the capture stated that "as the secretary of defense said when he outlined the military objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom, one of our key objectives is to search for, capture and drive out terrorists who have found safe haven in Iraq. This mission success highlights the U.S. and our coalition partners' commitment to defeating terrorism worldwide. The capture of Abu Abbas in Iraq removes a portion of the terror network supported by Iraq and represents yet another victory in the global war on terrorism."

Brooks also advised that elements of the 3rd Infantry Division April 15 accepted the surrender of the Iraqi 12th Armored Brigade that was stationed in Ramadi and had been defending the main road that leads from Jordan into Iraq.

"This capitulation reflected compliance with the coalition instructions of moving into some sort of formation that would indicate a clear signal that capitulation was the desire of the command," he said. "This had been facilitated already by special operations forces that had been in contact with the commander of the formation."

Brooks also said there was a brief firefight in Mosul on April 15 when demonstrators fired upon coalition forces. The coalition troops were trying to secure a building to serve as a regional coordination center when the demonstration began, he said, adding that shots were fired and eventually the coalition troops were fired upon. Coalition forces responded, killing an estimated seven Iraqis and wounding an unspecified number of people, Brooks said, noting the incident is under further investigation.