MOST WANTED MAN, ABU-NIDAL, SPEAKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05-01219R000300440054-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 1, 2012
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: July 1, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/03/01: CIA-RDP05-01219R000300440054-6
Nadal, was born in Jaffa in Palestine some 40
years ago. He has become a legend in his
lifetime to both friends and foes but in spite
of this fame or notoriety he has remained
virtually inaccessible to journalists and unin-
terested in publicity. His organisation is
essentially an underground movement, even
in Iraq where he is based, and maintains
recognised offices only in Libya and Leba-
non.
The Western media rank him with the late
PFLP leader, Wadei Haddad, and the fabled
Carlos as one of the most wanted "terror-
ists" in the world. Operations as diverse as
those carried out in Munich, Khartoum,
Fiumicino, the assassination of Youssef
Sebai in Cyprus and even the killing of
Italian Premier Aldo Moro have been laid at
his door (see box). His group is said to have
links with European guerrillas like the Red
Brigades and the Baader-Meinhoforganisa-
tion. Fact and speculation have been in-
extricably mixed and liberally spiced with
sensationalism.
Abu-Nidal was one of the founder mem-
bers of Fateh together with Yasser Arafat in
the early 1960s. After being Fateh represen-
tative in Baghdad for some years, he became
increasingly critical of the organisation's
policies and was sentenced to death in his
absence by a Fateh revolutionary court in
1974 for"inciting armed mutiny" and plan-
ning to assassinate senior Fateh officials. He
has since then led a Fateh splinter group
which preceives the struggle to be not only
against Israel but also against conserva-
tive Arab regimes and "moderate" Palesti-
nian leaders.
He told The Middle East that Arafat must
bear the full blame for the split for having
"betrayed the principles of the Palestinian
resistance. " In his secret headquarters just
outside of Baghdad, with all the windows
boarded up and covered by bullet-proof
panels, Abu-Nidal talked about the aims of
his organisation.
Of medium height, but lean and athletic
with dark intense and determined eyes, he
spoke with fervour after carefully weighing
.his words. He denied any links with other
groups - either Arab or European - but
expressed sympathy for all those fighting
against American imperialism. He iden-
tified with all Palestinian operations carried
out against the "Zionists" and "Arab reac-
tionaries" but would not allow his name to
be linked directly with any particular action.
Abu-Nidal's inaccessibility is easy to
understand, for he is wanted not only by
Israeli and Western intelligence organisa-
tions but also by the conservative Arab states
and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
He toldFulvio Grimaldi that YasserArafat's
"capitulationist" policies and constant
~, ~h >: willineness to comnrnm,ce hart ',laced the
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/03/01: CIA-RDP05-01219R000300440054-6 .onoripof
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^ You organisation has been linked by
the Western press with urban guerrilla
groups in Europe and by Egypt with the
killing of Youssef Sebai in Cyprus. Is there
any truth in these charges?
O The Egyptian charges are totally false,
and were the ultimate frame-up. Colonel
Hani Abdel-Aziz, chief of one of Sadat's
secret services, had been given the task of
infiltrating our organisation, which is seen
by the Egyptian ruler as one of the most
deadly threats to his political existence.
Abdel-Aziz was acting under the direct
orders of Vice President Husni Mubarak
who gave unlimited assistance. He had two
tasks - to liquidate one of the strongest
centres of opposition to Sadat's plans for
the Middle East conflict and to build an
external scapegoat for Egypt's ills.
During the first months of the year,
Abdel-Aziz established several espionage
centres in the Arab world, the two most
After the Intercontinental Hotel raid (AP)
important of which were in Kuwait and
Beirut. It took our militants only three
months to smash these centres completely,
sometimes physically, and io .unmask the
whole conspiracy.
This constituted a severe defeat for
Sadat and his reaction was an irrational one,
as in Cyprus. He arrested scores of Palesti-
nians and European comrades with whom
we did not have the slightest connection.
As to the Red Brigades in Italy or the
Baader-Meinhof group in West Germany,
we do not have any Iinks with them. We
apply to them the principle of non-
interference in the. armed struggle of any
other country or organisation. We would
like to emphasise, however, that anyone
who tries to take a hand in our affairs will
have his hand cut off.
^ Does this same principle of non-
interference apply, for instance to George
Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine (PFLP), and other radical
Palestinian groups? The PFLP is known to
have links with other revolutionary organ-
isations.
O I can't say whether such links exist or
not. I don't know. But I do know that when
Arafat states that extremist Palestinian
fringe groups could be connected with the
Red Brigades or other terrorist organisa-
tions, there is no doubt that he is trying to
draw attention to me and our forces.
^ Why would Arafat do this, and why does
your name get mentioned whenever there
is a terrorist incident in Europe?
O This is no more than an international
campaign led by Arafat and Sadat, sup-
ported by Saudi money and, Israeli collab-
oration, to discredit us and those who sup-
port us.
Did not Arafat go as far as having
some members of Fateh killed in South
Lebanon during the Israeli invasion
because they were opposed to (Palestinian)
withdrawal, although they had not raised
their arms against those who ordered it?
^ How do you evaluate the late Wadei
Haddad and Carlos?
O We respect martyr Wadei Haddad for he
was a great revolutionary fighter but this
does not necessarily mean that we agree
with his ideas and activities. As to comrade
Carlos, who fought side by side with martyr
Haddad, I want to emphasise that ours is a
large organisation with a progressive and
popular political line. Of course, we also
fight on many fronts and believe that
armed struggle is the most important one.
But of equal importance for us is mobilisa-
tion inside and outside the occupied ter-
ritories. The enemy has often admitted the
strength of our presence in the occupied
territories.
^ Are you saying that there is a contradic-
tion between mass organisation and guer-
rilla activity?
O I don't accept such a contradiction. Our
struggle is for the liberation of Palestine
.where we want to build a secular and
democratic state, and for revolution in the
Arab world as a whole.
We believe that these aims require differ-
ent means and methods. Hijackings and
similar operations are not useful -they are
individual actions without mass participa-
tion.
But if our first priority is the struggle
against the Zionist enemy in the occupied
territories -and our progress here can be
seen from the rockets which rained onto
Begin's residential district -our next
priority is the destruction of the reactio-
nary regimes in Syria, Jordan and Leba-
non. There is also the direct offensive
against Saudi Arabia, as shown by the des-
truction of the Abqaiq (oilfield).
Just ask the imperialist powers what they
will do with the Zionist state once Iraq,
Syria, Lebanon and Jordan proceed to
unite and a "new revolutionary" balance of
forces exists.
^ But Arafat has promised that the PLO
will end military operations once it has a
Palestinian state and that it will not consti-
tute athreat to Israel.
Operations attributed
to Abu-Nidal
perations attributed to Abu-Nidal and
is Black June organisation began in 1976
nd a clear political goal can be seen in all of
hem. The targets are Syria, Egypt and
Jordan, and the aim is to stsU any peace
egotiations or contacts with Israel these
governments may be involved in.
Abu-Nidal's name has also been linked
ith the Black September Organisation
hich staged similar operations from 1972
to 1974.
1976
SEPTEMBER: In an attack on the Semi-
amis Hotel in Damascus by four armed
men, hostages were taken and the release
f a number of prisoners in Syria
demanded. The Syrian security forces
stormed the hotel and one of the four
guerrillas was killed as well as four hos-
tages.
OCTOBER: Syrian embassies in Italy and
Pakistan were attacked. In Islamabad one
f the three attackers was killed and the
they two arrested. Seven people were
wounded. In Rome a Syrian diplomat was
hurt and the three attackers eventually
surrendered to the Italian police.
NOVEMBER: Four guerrillas occupied
Ithe Intercontinental Hotel in Amman and
iafter Five hours of fighting the Jordanian
security forces managed to regain control.
Three guerrillas, two soldiers and three
civilians were killed and nine people
injured. The fourth guerrilla was wounded
and captured and executed a month later.
DECEMBER: Syrian Foreign Minister
Abdel-Halim Khaddam was shot and
wounded by a motorcyclist near Damas-
cus.
1977
OCTOBER: Another attack was made
gainst Khaddam at Abu Dhabi Airport
but UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Saif
in-Ghabbash was killed instead. The
ttacker surrendered to the authorities in
bu Dhabi after taking seven people hos-
tage.
1978
FEBRUARY: Chairman of the Egyptian
Press Syndicate, Youssef Sebai was assas-
sinated inCyprus, outside the Hilton Hotel
'n Nicosia. The two guerrillas took 11 hos-
tagesand were given a plane to leave Cyp-
us. They returned, however, after failing
o find anywhere else to land, and Egypt
sent aplane-load of troops to attack the
guerrillas aircraft. The Cyprus National
Guard fired on the Egyptians killing 15 and
ounding I7 others.
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O What does it matter? This only expresses -
the joint wishes of Sadat and Arafat which THE DELICATE BALANCING ACT
the Palestinian people will never share.
^ In a recent interview with The Middle ~' ~~ ~~~~~
East, Muhammad Sid-Ahmed suggestc'l
that there was an emerging alliance between
Israel and some of the Arab conservative EA~H ~ ~~O ~~
states aimed at stopping the Palestinians
from becoming a subversive force in the ^
Arab world. There is an unspoken assurance ~ ~ ? ~ /
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Israel. movement sinks lower, he is facing increasingly strong
O We believe that this is a correct analysis challenges from the radical hardliners. Tewftk Mishlawi in Beirut
and we expressed this opinion long before looks at the pressure he has to face and the difficulties
Sid-Ahmed, in a book published by the involved in continuing the delicate diplomatic balancing act
General Union of Palestinian Writers. But
I must add that we know Muhammad he has performed so skilfully in the past.
Sid-Ahmed is neither leftist nor progres-
sive. He is in fact a spy and spends most of The Palestine National Council (parlia-
his time in London and Paris carrying out ment in exile) is scheduled to meet next
tasks related to Sadat's dealings with month (mid-August) against a background
Israel. of what some regard as the most serious
D How do you see the present radicalise- challenge yet to the leadership of Palestine
lion of the PLO? Will there eventually be a Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman
split? Yasser Arafat.
O Takeover by the radical wing is more So far, the 48-year-old leader of Fateh
likely than a split. Egypt and Saudi influ- appears to be unruffled by his rivals'
ence over the PLO will be broken and accusations that he has been acting auto-
Arafat will end up in the rubbish bin of cratically. The allegation was made in May
history. Palestinian revolutionaries will by five guerrilla groups, four of which are
develop the PLO and its struggle for Pales- generally considered hardliners within the
tine and the whole Arab nation. Palestinian movement - Dr George Hab-
^ Has the Iraqi Government ever shown ash's Popular front for the Liberation of
any embarrassment over your organise- Palestine (PFLP), the Iraqi-backed -Arab
lion's activities? Liberation Front (ALF), the Popular
^ We are tied to the Socialist Arab Beath Struggle Front (PSF) and the Palestine
Party by a close alliance. We agree on the Liberation Front (PLF), all members of the
main principle of liberating Palestine and Rejection Front.
the Arab world. We trust the political Significantly, however, the accusations
leadership of Iraq and this is the result of a against Arafat and Fateh, were fully sup-
long, common experience. Our Iraqi allies ported by the Marxist Democratic Front
take part of the struggle on themselves and for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) of
share 'the responsibility for the destiny of Nayef Hawatma, which has hitherto always
the masses. followed the PLO-Fateh line. All five
^ How far does your influence extend out- Arafat ...anew challenge from Muhsen
side Iraq? (below left), Habash (centre) and hardliners
O We are capable of crossing all borders (Camera Press)
and overcoming all obstacles, even without
technological aids. We are the best smug-
glers in the world. But when the Western
press so frequently refers to Iraq in the
context of terrorism, it is simply part of an
effort to boycott the progress and auton-
omy of this country.
^ Have you ever been to Europe'!
O Yes, in the past.
^ Will you return there?
O Well, it wouldn't be the right time now,
would it?
^ How do you view the urban guerrilla
groups of Europe?
O We support any action directed against
American imperialism, but we don't have
accurate information. Besides, the conse-
quences of these groups' actions must be
judged by their own people. We cannot be
the tutors of any other organisation or
groups submitted. a memorandum to the
PLO Executive Committee, which stated
in part:
"We feel that political decisions ar;
being taken unilaterally and not by the var-
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