In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “only surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648”. Today it says “lebanese-born palestinian militant who is the lone surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648 in 1985”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “only surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648”. Today it says “lebanese-born palestinian militant who is the lone surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648 in 1985”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Omar Rezaq is the only surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648 .1He was a member of Abu Nidal , a group of three people. The remaining two hijackers were killed, either in in-flight shooting with a sky-marshal or after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane.2Omar Rezaq had given his name as Omar Marzouki and used a Tunisian passport when boarding that plane at Athens airport, but later he admitted that he is of Palestinian origin and that he was born in Lebanon in 1963 .3During hours of negotiations at Luqa airport in Malta , Rezaq deliberately shot five passengers - three of them miraculously survived - and used a hand grenade when Egyptian commandos stormed the plane on November 24 , 1985 at about 8 p.m.4He was severely wounded in this shootout - had pierced the left lung by a bullet - but recovered and was arraigned in court on December 12 , 1986 .5Preliminary inquiry lasted until April 3 , 1987 and on November 2 , 1988 Rezaq was arraigned in court and he pleaded guilty to seven of nine charges against him.6These were the illegal arrest of crew and passengers, the death of Nitzan Mendelson and of Scarlett Marie Rogenkamp, the attempted killing of Methad Mustafa Kamal, Patrick Scott Baker, Jacqueline Nink Pflug and Tamar Artzi, and with the illegal possession of arms and explosives. Nevertheless, the former two charges were later withdrawn. Rezaq was sentenced to the full 25 years less the years and months he had already spent in prison.7On appeal, the same sentence was confirmed on April 20 , 1989 .8Rezaq however served only seven years in Malta and was released. As a free man under assumed name, he went to Accra , Ghana and remained there until July 1993 .9Then he flew to Lagos , Nigeria and was arrested there and the Nigerian authorities turned him over to waiting FBI agents, who flew him to the United States .10On July 19 , 1996 after a month-long trial Rezaq was sentenced to life in prison on a single count of air piracy. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, who sentenced him, recommended that any request for parole made after the 10-year period should be rejected.11
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16694956.
The opening as it stood in 2010 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq is the only surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648 . He was a member of Abu Nidal . The plane was hijacked by a group of three people. The remaining two hijackers were killed, either in in-flight shooting with a sky-marshal or after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane. Omar Rezaq had given his name as Omar Marzouki and used a Tunisian passport when boarding that plane at Athens airport, but later he admitted that he is of Palestinian origin and that he was born in Lebanon in 1963. During hours of negotiations at Luqa airport in Malta , five passengers were shot - three of them survived.On November 24, 1985, Egyptian commandos set explosives that ignited a fire, suffocating many of the passengers.Rezaq was wounded in a subsequent shootout (his left lung was pierced by a bullet), but recovered and was arraigned in court on December 12, 1986. Preliminary inquiry lasted until April 3, 1987 and on November 2, 1988 Rezaq was arraigned in court and he pleaded guilty to seven of nine charges against him. These were the illegal arrest of crew and passengers, the death of Nitzan Mendelson and of Scarlett Marie Rogenkamp, the attempted killing of Methad Mustafa Kamal, Patrick Scott Baker, Jacqueline Nink Pflug and Tamar Artzi, and with the illegal possession of arms and explosives. Nevertheless, the former two charges were later withdrawn. Rezaq was sentenced to the full 25 years less the years and months he had already spent in prison. On appeal, the same sentence was confirmed on April 20, 1989. Rezaq however served only seven years in Malta and was released. As a free man under an assumed name , he went to Accra , Ghana and remained there until July 1993.Rezaq he flew to Lagos , Nigeria and was arrested there in July 1993, and illegally extraordinary renditioned by FBI agents, who flew him to the United States . On July 19, 1996 after a month-long trial Rezaq was sentenced to life in prison on a single count of air piracy. Lamberth , who sentenced him, recommended that any request for parole made after the 10-year period should be rejected.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 356401678.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq is the only surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648 . He was a member of Abu Nidal . The plane was hijacked by a group of three people. The remaining two hijackers were killed, either during in-flight shooting with the plane's sky-marshal, Methad Mustafa Kamal, or after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane.Omar Rezaq had given his name as Omar Marzouki and used a Tunisian passport when boarding the plane at Athens airport, but later admitted that he is of Palestinian origin and was born in Lebanon in 1963.During hours of negotiations while the plane was on the ground at Luqa airport in Malta , five passengers were shot, three of whom survived. On November 24, 1985, Egyptian commandos set explosives that ignited a fire, suffocating many of the passengers. Rezaq was wounded in a subsequent shootout (his left lung was pierced by a bullet), but recovered and was arraigned in a Maltese court on December 12, 1986. Preliminary inquiry lasted until April 3, 1987 and on November 2, 1988 Rezaq pleaded guilty to seven of the nine charges against him.These were the illegal arrest of crew and passengers, the deaths of Nitzan Mendelson and Scarlett Marie Rogenkamp, the attempted killings of Methad Mustafa Kamal, Patrick Scott Baker, Jacqueline Nink Pflug and Tamar Artzi, and the illegal possession of arms and explosives. The former two charges were later withdrawn. Rezaq was sentenced to the maximum 25 years imprisonment, less the years and months he had already spent in prison.On appeal, the sentence was confirmed on April 20, 1989. Rezaq served only seven years in Malta and was released. As a free man under an assumed name , he went to Accra , Ghana where at the request of the American Embassy Regional Security Officer Jerald H.Barnes he was detained by the Ghana Government and remained there until July 1993.Rezaq flew to Lagos , Nigeria in July 1993 and was arrested and extraordinary renditioned by members of the DSS, who flew him to the United States .On July 19, 1996, after a month-long trial in Washington, D.C., Rezaq was sentenced to life in prison on a single count of air piracy. Lamberth recommended that any request for parole made after the 10-year period should be rejected. An appeal was rejected on February 6, 1998.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662674731.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq (born 1963) is the only surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648 in 1985. He was a member of Abu Nidal . The plane was hijacked by a group of three people. The remaining two hijackers were killed, either during in-flight shooting with the plane's sky marshal , Methad Mustafa Kamal, or after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane. Omar Rezaq had given his name as Omar Marzouki and used a Tunisian passport when boarding the plane at Athens airport, but later admitted that he is of Palestinian origin and was born in Lebanon in 1963. The FBI determined that "Omar Marzouki" was his real name while "Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq" was an alias, as its initials (O.M.A.R.) make the name easy to remember. During hours of negotiations while the plane was on the ground at Luqa airport in Malta , five passengers were shot, three of whom survived. On 24 November 1985, Egyptian commandos set explosives that ignited a fire, suffocating many of the passengers. Rezaq was wounded in a subsequent shootout (his left lung was pierced by a bullet), but recovered and was arraigned in a Maltese court on 12 December 1986. Preliminary inquiry lasted until 3 April 1987, and on 2 November 1988, Rezaq pleaded guilty to seven of the nine charges against him. These were the illegal arrest of crew and passengers, the deaths of Nitzan Mendelson and Scarlett Marie Rogenkamp, the attempted killings of Methad Mustafa Kamal, Patrick Scott Baker, Jacqueline Nink Pflug and Tamar Artzi, and the illegal possession of arms and explosives. The former two charges were later withdrawn. Rezaq was sentenced to the maximum 25 years' imprisonment, less the years and months he had already spent in prison. On appeal, the sentence was confirmed on 20 April 1989. Rezaq served only seven years in Malta and was released. As a free man under an assumed name , he went to Accra , Ghana where at the request of the American Embassy Regional Security Officer Jerald H. Barnes he was detained by the Ghana government and remained there until July 1993. Ghanaian authorities did not give Rezaq to the United States but told them that he planned to go to Nigeria .Rezaq flew to Lagos in July 1993; U.S. intelligence officials were on board his flight to monitor him. He was arrested and extraordinary renditioned by members of the DSS, who flew him to the U.S. Rezaq's arrest was the result of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Nigeria.When Rezaq arrived at the airport, Nigerian officials denied him entry since he did not have a passport, something they knew beforehand, and placed him on the first aircraft departing Nigeria, a Gulfstream IV leased by the U.S. government.FBI agents arrested him, fingerprinted him, and flew back to the U.S. On 19 July 1996, after a month-long trial in Washington, D.C., Rezaq was sentenced to life in prison on a single count of air piracy . Lamberth recommended that any request for parole made after the 10-year period should be rejected. An appeal was rejected on 6 February 1998.Omar Mohmamed Rezaq, register number 20267-016, is imprisoned at United States Penitentiary, Marion ."The story of a woman who survived a terrorist's bullet to her skull, and the FBI special agents who brought her would-be-murderer to justice" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 937502612.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 24 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Omar Rezaq Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq ( né Omar Marzouki ; born 1957/1958) is a Lebanese-born Palestinian militant who is the lone surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648 in 1985. He was a member of Abu Nidal . The plane was hijacked by a group of three people. The remaining two hijackers were killed, either during in-flight shooting with the plane's sky marshal , Methad Mustafa Kamal, or after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171924673.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Omar Rezaq Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq ( né Omar Marzouki ; born 1957/1958) is a Lebanese-born Palestinian militant who is the lone surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648 in 1985. He was a member of Abu Nidal Organization . The plane was hijacked by a group of three people. The remaining two hijackers were killed, either during in-flight shooting with the plane's sky marshal , Methad Mustafa Kamal, or after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1289524880. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “only surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648”. Today it says “lebanese-born palestinian militant who is the lone surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648 in 1985”. Read the current article and compare.
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2005 and 2025.
Then
only surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648
Now
lebanese-born palestinian militant who is the lone surviving hijacker of egyptair flight 648 in 1985
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.