US accused over death of Palestinian detainee

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).

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"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," Sheble told Reuters in the Gaza Strip.

He said wakes would be held for Abbas in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Iraq, but it was not clear where he would be buried. "We have to consult with his wife in Lebanon and also with (Palestinian President Yasser)...Arafat."

Sheble said Abbas's wife was banned by Israel from entering Palestinian territories.

Abbas planned the hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro in October 1985 during which a wheel-chair-bound American Jew, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, was killed and thrown into the sea.

Abbas, who was not aboard the ship during an operation that embarrassed Arafat's mainstream Palestine Liberation Organization (news - web sites), had spent most of the past 17 years in Iraq, eluding capture by the United States or Italy.

Italy freed Abbas after US warplanes forced his jet to land in Sicily following the hijack, although it later sentenced him -- when he had already left -- to life in jail.

Efforts by the United States to bring Abbas before a court foundered on legal and diplomatic problems such as the possible expiry of the U.S. statute of limitations.

Abbas renounced violence when the Palestinians signed accords with Israel in 1993 and last returned to Palestinian-run territories for a brief visit four years ago.

The US military did not reveal where Abbas had been held since his capture on April 14, 2003. He died Tuesday.

"Initial reports indicate that he died of natural causes. Efforts by medical personnel to revive him were unsuccessful. An autopsy will be performed," a statement said.