Two of the Shiite Moslem militants who hijacked a Kuwaiti jetliner last month have been killed in fighting between Shiite militias in the slums of south Beirut, the Al-Qabas daily reported Saturday.
The newspaper, quoting a report by a European foreign ministry that it did not identify, said one of the men killed was Qassem Zaineddin. The paper said the other man was either Nihad Khashman or his brother, Fuad.The two were killled with 10 other Shiites in fighting near the Bourj el-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in south Beirut on Monday night, the paper said. Khashman's mother was also killed in the Beirut fighting, according to the report.
There was no independent confirmation of the report from the newspaper, a major independent Kuwaiti publication.
Al-Qabas said the Khashman brothers and Zaineddin were among nine hijackers who seized a Kuwait Airways Boeing 747 with 112 people aboard April 5.