Achille Lauro Mastermind Caught in Iraq

April 15 -- Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, has been captured by U.S. troops in Baghdad, U.S. officials said today.

The Achille Lauro hijacking particularly horrified and outraged the United States because one of the hijackers shot an elderly, disabled American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, then tossed him and his wheelchair overboard.

Abbas, believed to be around 55, was arrested by U.S. special operations forces during a raid Monday night on the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

U.S. forces raced all over the city, visiting several places before they nabbed him, Pentagon sources told ABCNEWS' John McWethy. They also netted several other people, some documents, passports, and weapons.

The administration touted Abbas' arrest as another example of the former Iraqi regime's ties to terrorists.

"One of our key objectives is to search for, capture and drive out terrorists who have found safe haven in Iraq," the Central Command statement said. "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."

An American Killed

Abbas led a faction of the Palestine Liberation Front. Although his given name was Mohammed Abbas, he used the nom de guerre Abu or Abul Abbas.

He claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks, but the one that made him infamous was the hijacking of the Achille Lauro on Oct. 7, 1985.

He and several other terrorists used the Achille Lauro's hundreds of passengers as hostages to demand that Israel release 50 Palestinian prisoners.

In the course of the hijacking, one of Abbas' colleagues shot Klinghoffer, 69, as the American tourist sat in his wheelchair, then pushed him overboard.

Klinghoffer and his wife, Marilyn, from the New York area, were on the cruise to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary. Marilyn Klinghoffer died of cancer just four months after the hijacking.