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The Sigonella crisis (named after the air base at which it originated, in Sicily) was a diplomatic case between Italy and the United States that occurred in October 1985. The incident risked escalating into an armed confrontation between VAM (Vigilanza Aeronautica Militare) and Carabinieri on the one hand, and Delta Force (a special forces unit of the U.S. Armed Forces) soldiers on the other, in the aftermath of a political rupture between Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and U.S. President Ronald Reagan about the fate of Palestinian terrorists who had hijacked and diverted the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, killing a US passenger. October 7 and 8: Achille Lauro hijacking and murder of Leon Klinghoffer On October 7, 1985, the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, at 1:07 pm, as it was preparing to leave Egyptian waters to dock in Israel, was seized by four armed Palestinian terrorists who had sneaked on board with false passports. The terrorists, caught by a crew member handling weapons intended for one of their planned missions while landing in the Israeli port of Ashdod, reacted abruptly and, after a shootout involving the crew member (who was wounded in the leg), seized the ship. However, the ship managed to send a mayday, picked up in Sweden, reporting the hijacking by terrorists, who were demanding the release of 50 of their comrades imprisoned in Israel. They claimed to be members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but actually belonged to the pro-Syrian faction of one of its minority components, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP). Upon receiving the news, Italian foreign minister Giulio Andreotti and defence minister Giovanni Spadolini set about a negotiation that, from the outset, appeared particularly complex and highly risky, not least in light of the different political views within the Italian government. Spadolini summoned all the top leaders of the armed forces and counterintelligence. Andreotti, in the evening, convened the crisis unit at the Farnesina, immediately activating his diplomatic channels, owing to his historic friendship with the moderate Arab world whose policies he supported. The foreign minister was handed the "Asad" chapter by Prime Minister Bettino Craxi: Hafiz al-Asad was his privileged contact in the area and he knew him well. At that time he was considered a "decisive point, also because the hijacked ship seemed to be aiming for a docking right in Syria, in Tartus." Andreotti managed to "find the Syrian dictator within hours: he even tracked him down in Germany, where Asad was secretly residing in those days because he had to undergo surgery. As it is equally obvious that the Syrian leader immediately moved in our favor not only because he was familiar with the Italian minister who spoke to him on the phone. Asad acted immediately and harshly, forcing those in control of the ship to reverse course and head back to the waters off Egypt." At 10:10 p.m. from the Port Said harbor master's office, the commando's first claim and demand was picked up over the radio, which was for the release of 50 of their fellow Palestinians held in the Israeli camp in Nahariya. The threat for failure to comply was to blow up the ship. After a telephone call between Andreotti and Yasser Arafat (who was the chairman of the PLO, as well as head of al-Fatah, the most important force within the PLO), the Palestinian leader in a press release let it be known that he was totally uninvolved in the events of the kidnapping. Meanwhile, the foreign minister managed to get in touch with the Egyptian political leadership to be able to facilitate a negotiation, while Prime Minister Craxi also managed to secure the support of the president of Tunisia (the PLO was in Tunisia at the time). On the night of October 7–8, after a summit at the Ministry of Defence and once the authorizations from the United Kingdom and the United States had been obtained, Operation Margherita officially got underway, involving the mobilization of four transport helicopters with 60 paratroopers, raiders and scouts to pinpoint the ship's location. Immediately afterwards, Craxi, Andreotti and Spadolini arranged to meet at Palazzo Chigi for a nighttime summit. On the same night Arafat sent a personal message to Craxi and Andreotti: "Two emissaries of mine are on their way to Cairo and will accompany the Egyptian authorities. From the first reports it seems that the group is pro-Syrian." The two envoys were Hani El Hassan (one of Arafat's chief aides) and Abu Abbas, founding head of the FPLP, whose idea for the failed hostage-taking plan in Ashdod was only later revealed. Andreotti and Craxi expressed support for diplomatic negotiations to "avoid a tragedy," but were warned by the US ambassador that US President Ronald Reagan would oppose any negotiations with the terrorists. Craxi lamented how the U.S. obstructed Italy by failing to provide information picked up by their satellites. The ship headed to Syria and stationed off the coast of Tartus, where the hijackers asked to enter the port: the Syrian government informed Italy that it would only allow docking following the opening of direct negotiations between the Italian government and the terrorists; the U.S. objected. The terrorists then demanded a negotiation mediated by the International Red Cross with the ambassadors of Italy, the US, the UK, and West Germany. Meanwhile, on the ship, the situation degenerated: the terrorists repeatedly threatened to kill all the passengers, starting with U.S. citizens. Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish and paraplegic U.S. citizen, was killed and thrown overboard. However, the hijackers did not continue to carry out their threat, except by simulating it with several gunshots that intimidated crew and passengers. October 9 and 10 : the surrender of the hijackers and the discovery of the murder The Syrian government sought to insert itself into the handling of the affair, speculating an attack to free the ship; also in reaction, the US government threatened armed intervention on the ship to free the passengers. The first position found Andreotti in agreement; Craxi, who was opposed a priori to an action of force, replied that, in case the assault should take place, it should be led by the Italian armed forces, even if inter-force with American Marines and Special Air Service (SAS); in fact, the instructions to the soldiers who were on board stipulated that, since it was Italian territory, Italian special forces raiders would go up. Thirty years later Craxi's former diplomatic adviser, Ambassador Antonio Badini, revealed that in this position Craxi was following the line, shared by the U.S., of marginalizing the Syrian role as an expression of anti-Western radicalism. Achille Lauro, having been ordered away from the Syrian coast, returned to Port Said at the request of Abbas who, with the authorization of the Italian government, managed to get the terrorists to surrender .... Discover the Deborah Hart Strober Gerald S Strober popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Deborah Hart Strober Gerald S Strober books.