U.S. blasts release of convicted bomber .
WASHINGTON 1996-12-05
The United States Thursday blasted the release from a Greek prison of a Palestinian guerrilla convicted of bombing an airliner and killing a teenager in 1982 , saying the move " does not make sense . "
" All of us who have been victimised by terrorists ... need to stand together against terrorists .
We ca n't let terrorists out of jail when they are a danger to civilians all around the world , " State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said . '
Mohammed Rashid " is a terrorist who deserves to be behind bars .
It is inexplicable to us why he would have been allowed to leave Greece before serving his just sentence ... This is an incomprehensible move .
It does not make sense , " Burns told a news briefing .
He spoke after Rashid left Greece Thursday on being freed from prison early for good behaviour after serving 8-1/2 years .
The Clinton administration 's strong views on this subject have been conveyed to the Greek government , Burns said .
Mahammad Rashid was whisked from Korydallos maximum security prison just outside Athens to the airport where he boarded a regular Olympic Airways flight to Cairo where he would transit to Tunis and the former Palestine Liberation Organisation headquarters .
Rashid , 46 , was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Greek court in 1992 after being convicted of premeditated murder in the mid-air bombing of a Pan American airliner in 1982 .
His sentence had been reduced to 15 years in 1993 .
A parole court ruled recently that Rashid could be freed after serving 8-1/2 years , with time in pre-trial detention counted towards his term , but said he must be expelled immediately from Greece .
The United States accuses Rashid of belonging to the May 15 Palestinian guerrilla group and being an accomplished student of master Palestinian bombmaker Abu Ibrahim .
Three FBI agents who testified against Rashid during the trial , held at Korydallos prison , said they had ample evidence against Rashid for a bomb planted on a Pan American plane in Brazil in 1982 and a mid-air bomb blast on a TWA airliner approaching Athens in 1986 which killed four U.S. citizens .