The FBI released age-progressed photographs of the four alleged terrorists charged with the 1986 hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 that killed 20 people.
Released Thursday, the images are of Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar- Rahayyal and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar. The images were created by the FBI laboratory using age-progression technology and original photographs obtained by the FBI in 2000, the Bureau said.
On Sept. 5, 1986, the four alleged hijackers and Abd al-Latif Sfarini stormed Pan Am Flight 73, which had landed in Karachi, Pakistan after take off from Mumbai, India. The hijackers killed 20 passengers and crew, including two Americans. More than 100 individuals on board were injured in the attack.
Each of the individuals are believed to have been members of the Abu Nidal Organization, ANO, and previously on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. All four on currently on the list of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists.
The Department of State Rewards for Justice Program offers a reward of up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrest of conviction of the alleged hijackers.
In 1988, the five men were convicted for their roles in the hijacking and sentenced to death, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.
Pakistan handed Safarini over to the FBI in September 2001. He was taken to the U.S. and sentenced to 160 years in prison.
The fate of the other four is clouded in mystery. A 2009 Associated Press story claimed they were deported to the Palestinian Authority, against the wishes of the United States and India. However, some have disputed that story, alleging that the four escaped a prison in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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