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Early on September 5, 1986, while preparing to depart the airport in Karachi, Pakistan, a Pan American Airways jetliner was hijacked by a group of armed men believed to have belonged to the Abu Nidal terrorist group.


The flight crew of Pan Am Flight 73 escaped during the initial attack, leaving the plane immobile. Following a standoff over demands for a new crew to fly the plane to Cyprus, the hijackers opened fire on the passengers, killing at least 20 and seriously injuring more than 100 others.

Jamal Rahim
Jamal Rahim
When security forces responded, 4 suspects were arrested at the scene and a fifth, believed to have planned the attack, was captured later.The 4 hijackers were tried and convicted in a Pakistani court, served prison sentences there, but still face terrorism-related charges in the United States.

They remain at large, and the U.S. is offering sizable rewards for information leading to their capture or prosecution.


Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, 44 years old, was born in Lebanon, has brown hair, dark eyes, is of medium height and weighs about 70 kilograms. He uses various aliases, including Ali Al Jassem Fahd and Ismael.

Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, 55 years old, was born in Iraq, has black hair and dark eyes, and is of medium height. He too uses several aliases, including Sulaiman Turki and Bou Baker Muhammad.

Muhammad ar-Rahayyal
Muhammad ar-Rahayyal
Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-Rahayal, 44 years old, was born in Lebanon, has olive complexion and dark eyes and is of medium height. He has a scar under his left eye and another on his right cheek.

Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar, 44 years old, was born in Kuwait, has black hair and dark eyes, a light complexion and is of medium height. His aliases include Ashraf Naeem Mansour and Zubair.



For their role in the hijacking and killings that followed, the 4 have been indicted for murder of U.S. nationals outside the United States, conspiracy to murder Americans outside the U.S., aircraft piracy and other charges.


The Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrest or prosecution of these men. The U.S. guarantees that all reports will be investigated and the identity of all informants will be kept confidential.

Muhammad al-Munawar
Muhammad al-Munawar

If appropriate, the U.S. is prepared to protect informants by relocating them.