Italy's justice minister said Italy planned to seek the extradition of Palestinian guerilla leader Abu Abbas.
Mr Roberto Castelli said Italy would seek the extradition once juridical questions were cleared up. Abbas was captured by US forces in Baghdad.
Abbas, also known as Mohammed Abbas, was sentenced in absentia in Italy to life in prison for planning the hijacking of Italian liner Achille Lauroin the eastern Mediterranean in 1985.
The hijackers killed a disabled elderly American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, shooting him and pushing his wheelchair over the side of the ship.