Ali Atwa (; – October 2021) was a Lebanese national and member of the Islamist organization

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

. Atwa was also known as ''Ammar Mansour Bouslim'' and ''Hassan Rostom Salim''. Atwa was wanted by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

government for his alleged involvement in the 14 June 1985

hijacking Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''likej ...

TWA Flight 847 TWA Flight 847 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked soon after take off from Athens. ...

. Atwa allegedly intended to help hijack the plane but was bumped from the flight, was arrested but was then released by the Greek government as part of the deal to release the

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

s, and then rejoined the hijackers in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

on board the hijacked airplane. This hijacking resulted in the death of

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

diver

Robert Stethem Robert Dean Stethem (November 17, 1961 – June 15, 1985) was a United States Navy Seabee (US Navy), Seabee diver who was murdered by Hezbollah members during the aircraft hijacking, hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard, TWA Fl ...

. On 1 October 2001, Atwa along with two other alleged participants in the hijacking was placed on the initial list of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by President Bush. A reward of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

5 million was being offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction. Atwa died of cancer in October 2021 in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Despite this, the FBI's website still lists Atwa as a fugitive.

References

Rewards for Justice

Atwa profile at FBI Most Wanted Terrorist

External links

Uli Derickson - Legacy of Courage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwa, Ali 1960 births 2021 deaths Hezbollah hijackers FBI Most Wanted Terrorists Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government Deaths from cancer in Lebanon Rewards for Justice

See also

References

External links