Excerpt:
In a scene that could have come straight from a James Bond movie, on June 13, 1987, a wanted Lebanese Islamic terrorist sped in a motorboat toward an 80-foot luxury yacht 13 miles off the coast of Cyprus. He thought he was going to take part in a drug deal. Two women on deck, wearing halter tops and shorts, waved him to come on board. On boarding he was led to the back of the boat and quickly overwhelmed.
The women who had caught his eye were actually undercover FBI agents, as were other members of the crew. The boat was in international waters so that the U.S. could claim jurisdiction over him. And after being read his Miranda rights, Farwaz Younis, over four days, confessed his role in the hijacking of Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 402. On Sept. 17 he was flown back to the U.S. The flight refueled in midair to avoid any jurisdictional issues with foreign governments.
The Younis case is worth recalling in light of charges made against the FBI following the news that they were responsible for interrogating Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Christmas Day bomber. Critics painted the FBI agents as inexperienced locals, saying that reading the Miranda warning ensures non-cooperation and arguing that a more "suitable" entity than the FBI should have been in charge.