Crisis of Sigonella

Sigonella crisis
	; Achille Lauro
Date	October 7–12, 1985
Location	Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy
Result	Italian diplomatic victory
Belligerents
Italy	United States
	Caused by the hijacking of the liner MS Achille Lauro and murder of an American passenger

The Sigonella crisis (named after the air base at which it originated, in Sicily) was a diplomatic case between Italy and the United States that occurred in October 1985.

The incident risked escalating into an armed confrontation between VAM (Vigilanza Aeronautica Militare) and Carabinieri on the one hand, and Delta Force^[1] (a special forces unit of the U.S. Armed Forces) soldiers on the other, in the aftermath of a political rupture between Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and U.S. President Ronald Reagan about the fate of Palestinian terrorists who had hijacked and diverted the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, killing a US passenger.

^ "Sigonella, 11 ottobre 1985, ultimo sussulto di sovranità nazionale..." [Sigonella, 11 October 1985, Last gasp of national sovereignty…]. mirorenzaglia.org (in Italian). 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

[1] "Sigonella, 11 ottobre 1985, ultimo sussulto di sovranità nazionale..." [Sigonella, 11 October 1985, Last gasp of national sovereignty…]. mirorenzaglia.org (in Italian). 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

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