Victim's daughters 'shocked' by Abbas' death
(CNN) -- Palestinian militant leader Abu Abbas, the mastermind behind the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro, has died in U.S. custody in Iraq from what the Pentagon said appears to be natural causes.
American tourist Leon Klinghoffer was killed aboard the Italian cruise ship. His daughters Ilsa and Lisa Klinghoffer issued a statement Tuesday in response to Abbas' death:
"Our family was shocked to learn of the death of Abu Abbas. For the past 18 years, we have pursued all avenues to see that he be brought to justice for the murder of our father, Leon Klinghoffer, aboard the Achille Lauro in October 1985.
"We have been relentless in our efforts to ensure that Abbas be captured and brought to the U.S. to stand trial for our father's murder and, hopefully, to be convicted and to receive the maximum sentence under our law.
"Our hopes were raised last year when he was captured in Iraq by U.S. troops and arrested. Now, with his death, justice will be denied. The one consolation for us is that Abu Abbas died in captivity, not as a free man.
"While our interest in seeing Abbas brought to justice was admittedly personal, the impact of a trial and conviction under our law would have been far broader.
"Abu Abbas was a vicious terrorist who was responsible for countless deaths of innocent people -- men, women and children-throughout the Middle East. Justice for us would have been justice for untold thousands of widows and orphans his reign of terror left behind.
"His trial and conviction also would have sent a clear message to terrorists everywhere that, if they kill an American citizen, they can run but they can't hide.
"We will continue to actively work on issues relating to terrorism and to making our world a safer place. We will continue to stand as living reminders of the real human tragedy that is wrought by terrorism."
