US accused of assassinating Abbas

FOLLOWERS of Mohammed Abbas, Palestinian mastermind of the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking in 1985, said yesterday his death in US custody in Iraq amounted to "assassination".

Mr Abbas, also known as Abu Abbas, was captured by American forces in Iraq nearly a year ago and Washington vowed to bring him to justice. The US military in Baghdad confirmed his death in detention, one official attributing it to a heart attack.

"We hold the Americans responsible for his death, for his assassination," said Omar Sheble, number two to 56-year-old Abbas in the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF). "They put him to die slowly in a prison cell, deprived of his freedom. His detention was illegal and his conditions in jail were bad," he said.