The judicial authorities in the United States say they have arrested a former official of the Palestine Liberation Organization and charged him with planting a bomb which exploded on an American airliner in 1982.

The bomb killed a Japanese national, but the plane landed safely in Hawaii.

The Palestinian man, Mohammad Rashid, is due to appear in court in Washington charged with conspiracy to murder and aircraft sabotage -- he faces a possible life sentence.

Rashid has already spent several years in prison in Greece for the same incident.

The United States protested to Greece when Rashid was released early for good behaviour in 1996.

Officials have declined to explain how Rashid was apprehended by the American authorities.