ATHENS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Greek police said early Tuesday in a statement that the arrest of a Lebanese over an airplane hijacking in 1985 was a case of mistaken identity.
The police said the 65-year-old was released without charges and was being sent to a hotel on the Aegean Sea island of Syros, where he had been detained over the past four days.
The Lebanese was arrested Thursday at a passport control on the island of Mykonos after disembarking from a cruise ship. The police said that the man's identity coincided with that on an European warrant issued by Germany on charges related to the hijacking of the TWA Flight 847, during which an American passenger was shot dead by hijackers.
According to a police statement, German authorities were unable to identify the suspect and finally said Monday afternoon that they wouldn't be seeking the extradition of the man, who the Lebanese Foreign Ministry has said is a Lebanese journalist.
The flight from Cairo to San Diego was hijacked on June 14, 1985 after a stopover in Athens. The hijackers' demands included the release of hundreds of Shiite Muslims held by Israel.
