We want the murder of Robert Dean Stethem
Robert Dean StethemUSS Stethem (DDG - 63) is the first U.S. Navy warship named to honor the life and service of Steelworker Second Class (DV) Robert Dean Stethem, USN (1961 - 1985). Petty Officer Stethem entered the Navy on May 4, 1981. He attended recruit training in Great Lakes, Illinois, and was assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Sixty - Two, home ported at Gulfport, Mississippi. In October 1984, he was assigned to Underwater Construction Team One at Little Creek, Virginia.
Petty Officer Stethem was a victim of the terrorist hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 847 to Beirut, Lebanon on June 14, 1985. He was returning from an assignment in Nea Makri, Greece when the terrorists seized the aircraft. Petty Officer Stethem was singled out from the passengers as a U.S. Navy Sailor and killed when terrorist demands were not met. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart in 1985 and the Bronze Star in 1986.
Mohammed Ali Hamadi was serving a life sentence in Germany for hijacking the TWA jetliner and killing U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, 23. He was paroled after 19 years in December 2005, and sought refuge in Lebanon.
Last month, Lebanon Prime Minister Fouad Saniora expressed skepticism over the U.S. bid to gain custody of Hamadi, saying: "They (U.S. authorities) could have asked Germany to hand him over to the United States. Why are they asking us?"
After Hamadi's release, the U.S. State Department promised to hunt him down and put him on trial. It said the U.S. is talking with the Lebanese government about handing over Hamadi to the U.S.
Lebanon and the United States do not have an extradition treaty.
"This is a man who has completed his sentence in Germany," Saniora said of Hamadi.
Lebanon's Justice Ministry said in a short statement last month that it would study Hamadi's status in Lebanon according to Lebanese laws.
Petty Officer Stethem's family has a long and proud Naval history. Both of Petty Officer Stethem's parents served in the U.S. Navy as well as civil service posts. His father, Richard, served for twenty six years retiring as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. Petty Officer Stethem's mother Patricia, was a Storekeeper before leaving the Navy to raise a family. Petty Officer Stethem's brothers, Kenneth and Patrick, also proudly served in the Navy; Kenneth as a Chief Boatswains Mate and Navy Seal, Patrick a Steelworker Second Class.
January 10, 2006
The Honorable Condoleeza Rice
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Rice:
We are writing to urge you to formally request that the Government of Lebanon immediately arrest and extradite to the United States Mohammed Ali Hamadi, the cold-blooded murderer and terrorist who has sought refuge in Lebanon since being released from German custody last month. As you know, Hamadi brutally murdered a United States Navy diver, Robert Dean Stethem. Petty Officer Stethem was 23 years old and from Waldorf, MD. He was killed solely because he was an American serviceman.
Hamadi and his fellow terrorists bound, gagged, beat unconscious, and then shot Petty Officer Stethem in the head when they hijacked a jetliner traveling to Rome in 1985. The terrorists dumped Petty Officer Stethem’s dead body out of the plane onto the Beirut tarmac, proving the utter indifference for life that is the hallmark of such despicable people. In 1989, Hamadi was convicted of murder and sentenced by German authorities to a prison term that ended last month. The German government ignored repeated requests by the United States to turn Hamadi over for prosecution and released him instead to his native Lebanon.
We ask that you exert the strongest possible diplomatic and political pressure on the Government of Lebanon to secure Hamadi’s handover to U.S. custody. The families of our servicemen always hear that “a grateful nation never forgets.” We need to make sure these are more than just words. The current administration has rightly taken a strong stand against those nations who provide safe haven for terrorists. We must now make clear to Lebanon that it will not benefit from U.S. assistance and support as long as it harbors this brutal terrorist and murderer.
Petty Office Stethem was killed because he was a United States serviceman. As United States Senators, we are grateful for his service and want to see justice done.
Thank you for your prompt, personal attention to this issue.
Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
United States Senator
Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator
Petty Officer Stethem was a victim of the terrorist hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 847 to Beirut, Lebanon on June 14, 1985. He was returning from an assignment in Nea Makri, Greece when the terrorists seized the aircraft. Petty Officer Stethem was singled out from the passengers as a U.S. Navy Sailor and killed when terrorist demands were not met. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart in 1985 and the Bronze Star in 1986.
Mohammed Ali Hamadi was serving a life sentence in Germany for hijacking the TWA jetliner and killing U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, 23. He was paroled after 19 years in December 2005, and sought refuge in Lebanon.
Last month, Lebanon Prime Minister Fouad Saniora expressed skepticism over the U.S. bid to gain custody of Hamadi, saying: "They (U.S. authorities) could have asked Germany to hand him over to the United States. Why are they asking us?"
After Hamadi's release, the U.S. State Department promised to hunt him down and put him on trial. It said the U.S. is talking with the Lebanese government about handing over Hamadi to the U.S.
Lebanon and the United States do not have an extradition treaty.
"This is a man who has completed his sentence in Germany," Saniora said of Hamadi.
Lebanon's Justice Ministry said in a short statement last month that it would study Hamadi's status in Lebanon according to Lebanese laws.
Petty Officer Stethem's family has a long and proud Naval history. Both of Petty Officer Stethem's parents served in the U.S. Navy as well as civil service posts. His father, Richard, served for twenty six years retiring as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. Petty Officer Stethem's mother Patricia, was a Storekeeper before leaving the Navy to raise a family. Petty Officer Stethem's brothers, Kenneth and Patrick, also proudly served in the Navy; Kenneth as a Chief Boatswains Mate and Navy Seal, Patrick a Steelworker Second Class.
January 10, 2006
The Honorable Condoleeza Rice
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Rice:
We are writing to urge you to formally request that the Government of Lebanon immediately arrest and extradite to the United States Mohammed Ali Hamadi, the cold-blooded murderer and terrorist who has sought refuge in Lebanon since being released from German custody last month. As you know, Hamadi brutally murdered a United States Navy diver, Robert Dean Stethem. Petty Officer Stethem was 23 years old and from Waldorf, MD. He was killed solely because he was an American serviceman.
Hamadi and his fellow terrorists bound, gagged, beat unconscious, and then shot Petty Officer Stethem in the head when they hijacked a jetliner traveling to Rome in 1985. The terrorists dumped Petty Officer Stethem’s dead body out of the plane onto the Beirut tarmac, proving the utter indifference for life that is the hallmark of such despicable people. In 1989, Hamadi was convicted of murder and sentenced by German authorities to a prison term that ended last month. The German government ignored repeated requests by the United States to turn Hamadi over for prosecution and released him instead to his native Lebanon.
We ask that you exert the strongest possible diplomatic and political pressure on the Government of Lebanon to secure Hamadi’s handover to U.S. custody. The families of our servicemen always hear that “a grateful nation never forgets.” We need to make sure these are more than just words. The current administration has rightly taken a strong stand against those nations who provide safe haven for terrorists. We must now make clear to Lebanon that it will not benefit from U.S. assistance and support as long as it harbors this brutal terrorist and murderer.
Petty Office Stethem was killed because he was a United States serviceman. As United States Senators, we are grateful for his service and want to see justice done.
Thank you for your prompt, personal attention to this issue.
Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
United States Senator
Barbara A. Mikulski
United States Senator
posted by Cincinnati Change at 8:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home