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Abu Nidal | |
|---|---|
| أبو نضال | |
 Abu Nidal in an image released in 1976 | |
| Born | Sabri Khalil al-Banna May 1937 |
| Died | 16 August 2002 (aged 65) |
| Resting place | Al-Karakh Islamic cemetery, Baghdad |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Organization | Fatah: The Revolutionary Council (known as the Abu Nidal Organization) |
| Political party | Ba'ath Party (1955–1967) Fatah (1967–1974) Fatah Revolutionary Council (1974–2002) |
| Movement | Rejectionist Front |
Sabri Khalil al-Banna (Arabic: صبري خليل البنا; May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his nom de guerre Abu Nidal ("father of struggle"),[1] was a Palestinian militant. He was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council (Arabic: فتح المجلس الثوري), a militant Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO).[2] Abu Nidal formed the ANO in October 1974 after splitting from Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).[3]
Abu Nidal is believed to have ordered attacks in 20 countries, killing over 300 and injuring over 650 while acting as a freelance contractor.[4][5][6] The group's operations included the Rome and Vienna airport attacks on 27 December 1985, when gunmen opened fire on passengers in simultaneous shootings at El Al ticket counters, killing 20. At the height of its militancy in the 1970s and 1980s, the ANO was widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian groups.[7][8][4][9] Palestinian leadership long suspected that Israeli Mossad had infiltrated the ANO, with Abu Nidal himself having been on the CIA payroll.[10][11]
Abu Nidal died after a shooting in his Baghdad apartment in August 2002. Palestinian sources believed he was killed on the orders of Saddam Hussein, while Iraqi officials insisted he had committed suicide during an interrogation.[12][13]
- ^ AbuKhalil & Fischbach 2005; Melman 1987, p. 53 translates it as "father of the struggle".
- ^ Melman 1987, p. 213
- ^ Seale 1992, p. 99
- ^ a b Randal, Jonathan C. (10 June 1990). "Abu Nidal Battles Dissidents". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.
- ^ Hudson 1999, p. 97
- ^ "Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)". United States Department of State. June 2004. Archived from the original on 7 February 2005.
- ^ Chamberlin, Paul Thomas (2012). The Global Offensive: The United States, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Making of the Post-Cold War Order. New York: Oxford University Press, 173.
- ^ Kifner, John (14 September 1986). "On the bloody trail of Sabri al-Banna". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ Partrick, Neil (2015) [1997]. "Abu Nidal", in Martha Crenshaw and John Pimlott (eds.), International Encyclopedia of Terrorism. London: Routledge, 326–327.
- ^ Rashid Khalidi (2020). The Hundred Years' War on Palestine. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-1-62779-855-6.
- ^ Ilan Pappe (2017). The Biggest Prison on Earth. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-85168-587-5.
- ^ Whitaker, Brian (22 August 2002). "Mystery of Abu Nidal's death deepens". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ Fisk, Robert (25 October 2008). "Abu Nidal, notorious Palestinian mercenary, 'was a US spy'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2024.