Hezbollah member wanted for role in 1985 hijacking dies

BEIRUT (AP) — Ali Atwa, a senior Hezbollah operative who was on the FBI’s most wanted list for his role in one of the most notorious plane hijackings in aviation history, has died. The Lebanese militant group said Saturday that Atwa, who was believed to be in his early 60s, died of complications related to cancer. Atwa was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2001 with two other alleged participants in the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. The ordeal, which began in Athens, Greece on June 14, lasted 16 days and a U.S. Navy diver on the plane was killed. The hijackers demanded the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.