A Lebanese jailed for life in Switzerland 15 years ago for killing a passenger in a failed plane hijack is missing after failing to return from a weekend's leave from jail, Swiss authorities said today.
Mohammed Hussein Hariri, who attempted to seize an Air Afrique DC-10 on a flight from Rome to Paris in July 1987, failed to show up at the Plaine de l'Orbe jail in the southern Swiss canton of Vaud, the prison service said in a statement.
He was tried in Switzerland because Hariri was overpowered by a crew member when the plane landed at Geneva for refuelling after he had said he wanted to fly to Beirut.
He had already killed a 28-year-old Frenchman, whom he shot with a semi-automatic pistol after putting a blanket over his head.
Under Swiss law, life sentences are for a minimum of 15 years, after which a prisoner can be considered for parole.
Hariri started to receive occasional weekend passes last April but this was the first time there had been any problem, the service said.
"The authorities have circulated his description both in Switzerland and abroad," it added.
Officials said at the time of his trial that Hariri had sought the release of another hijacker, Mohammed Ali Hamadi, accused in West Germany of killing a U.S. navy man during a Trans World Airlines jetliner hijacking in 1985.