TERRORISTS' TACTICS BARED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00380R000500060005-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2001
• Sequence Number: 5
• Content Type: NSPR

"[$!s1(i: selitlenih r Pr(rum'i!>Y.
Approved For Re' ase 2001/08/28 : CIA-RDP75B00380R000500060005-0
Terror jts'. c, Bared
IllslltU'l.'
By .Jitn Hoagland
WwAiinvron Post Foreign Seivice
1\iarch 13-In is still fragmentary anti un-
the wake of the Palestinian
guerrilla raid on Khartouru,
a shadowy profile uf Black
September is beginning to
emerg=e from information
that has surfaced either in
Ilse r "successful" opera-
tions or from their opera-
tives captured in their fail-
ures.
Except at the top plan-
ning level, "Black Septem-
ber is more a state of mind
than an organization," one
1Vc'stern analytic of Arab af-
fairs says.
"There is a crowing conr-
rmurity of terror, spread
across the organizational
strun Ures of the Palestini-
ans." adds another expert.
I'hc' tightly ]knit leader-
ship cell is seen as drawing;
on the established guerrilla
groups for quotas of young
umrren picked from the
ranks of Palestinians trau-
matized by the bloody fight-
in,, in Jordan in September
1970, when king 1Jussein's
army wiped out 3,000 to 5:
00(1 Palestinian commanders
and civilians.
The recruited groups are
tr;,ined, often in Syria or
tray. for specific missions.
()nly in Itie nu)gents before
they embark on the opera-
tion is it finally confirmed
to them that they have be
cone members of Black
September, On the scene of
the operation, they receive
logistical support from es-
tablished groups like Fatah
and the 'o ula>. I rout r
.+L .i , ' tr0u:p- lalestirne
The team leaders who
have been captured seem to
be youthful, well-educated
Palestinians. The second-in-
command of the Munich
killings spoke English,
French and German. One of
the four Black September
operatives who hijacked a
Belgian airliner to Lod air-
port in Israel last May flew
the plane himself. The
leader of the Khartoum raid
was a communications ex-
pert.
Evidence about the top
Black September leadership
corroborated by solid in-
formation from inside the
Palestinian organizations'.
But the Khartoum operation
and the capture of a Fatah
leader now said to he defi-
nitely linked to Black Sep-
tember by Jordanian author-
ities last month have pro-
vided important new clues.
Western sources normally
reluctant to discuss Black
September because of the
scaricty of information have
said this week that the man
who ran the Khartoum oper-
ation from Beirut is Salah
Khalef, an extremist Fatah
theoretician aged about 40
and better known under his
guerrilla code name of Abu
Ayad.
Most Palestinian guerril-
las adopt a code name that
,includes Abu, which means
"father of" in Arabic.
Khalef denied in an inter-
view in the Beirut newspa-
per L'Orient le Jour last
month that he belongs to
Black September. But his
name has been repeatedly
linked to the organization.
Abu Daoud
Jordanian. intelligence ac-
cused him of being behind
the November plot by a
high-ranking Jordanian
army officer to assassinate
King Hussein. And last
month, his name was men-
tioned in a public confession
obtained from Jordanian au-
thorities from another im-
portant Fatah leader, Mo-
hamed Daoud Audch, also
known as Abu Daoud.
Abu Daoud,-said to be in
his mid-30s and from Jerusa-
lem, and 16 of his men were
captured by Jordanian au-
thorities on Feb. 8, two days
before they had planned to
seize the Jordanian prime
.minister and the Cabinet in
their offices in Amman.
They also apparently in-
tended to seize the Ameri-
can embassy.
Black September has said
that the Khartoum raid was
intended as an emergency
mission to save Abu Daoucl
and his men from execution
by obtaining their release in
exchange for the diplomats.
IKine Hussein announced
Wednesday in Amman that
he was commuting the death
YASSER ARAFAT
... Fatah leader
sentences passed oil Abu
Daoud and 15 of his col-
leagues for alleged subver-
sive activities, UPI reported.
In a royal message, the king
said that his decision was
prompted by "sincere and
honest appeals" to spare the
lives of the guerrillas and
"human considerations that
haunted us day and night."
[The king did not make it
clear whether this meant
the guerrillas would be re-
leased or still have to serve
prison terms.]
Fatah Cover
The guerrillas involved in
the Khartoum raid were
willing to give up their Fa-
tah cover in Khartoum, al-
ienate the Sudanese govern-
ment, which had not taken a
position against them, and
cause Fatah to lose its main
office for Africa,
All of this would indicate
the importance Black Sep-
tember attaches to iAbu
Daoud. Fatah spokesmen
have identified him as one
of Fatah's two or three top
military leaders, since he
headed the powerful Pales-
tinian militia in Jordan in
1970.
But his Black September
links may be even more im-
portant. There are strong in-
dications here from sources
who cannot be identified but
who have been reliable in
the past that Abu Daoud
was in Munich two to three
Approved For Release 2001/08/28 : CIA-RDP75B0038OR000500060005-0
 Approved For Releases,,?WO?//7,f6fflggfl0380R000500060005-0
A Shadowy Profile'
Of Arab Terrorists
weeks before the Munich op-
eration, and may have
helped to plan and run it.
The Palestine Liberation
organization and Fatah have
disputed Abu Daoud's tele-
vised confession, made be-
fore Hussein put him on
trial and first confirmed the
death sentence. But reliable
sources here say that in-
formation extracted from
the men with Abu Daoud
have confirmed the major
points of his confession,
which fits the developing
pattern of Black September
operations.
Jordan Mission
About.20 Palestinians re-
cruited for the Jordanian
mission--which was, accord-
ing to Abu Daoud, designed
to show Hussein and the
world that the guerrilla
movement still existed-
were trained in Iraq for two
months.
Abu :Daoud had special
cars made up with secret,
welded compartments to
carry weapons into Jordan.
But according to reliable
sources, an informant tipped
off the Jordanians, who
caught most of the group
traveling on Omani pass-
ports.
Other evidene of the link
between. the Black Septem-
ber organization and Fatah
came today in an interview
Yasser Arafat, the head of
Fatah and chairman of the
Palestine Liberation Organi-
zation, allegedly gave to the
Beirut weekly As Sayyad.
"I see nothing strange in
Fatah elements joining
Black September," Arafat
was quoted as saying.
Interview Denied
Later tonight, the Pales-
tinian news agency Wafa de-
nounced the interview as "a
fake and an invention that
has no basis in truth," and a
guerrilla spokesman said
that Fatah and the PLO had
no connections.
Arafat claimed in the al-
leged interview that
"Japanese, Turks, Iranians
and other strugglers" from
foreign countries "have
taken part in Black Septem-
ber operations.
"Is it strange therefore
that Palestinians, even com-
mandos from the various re-
sistance groups, should join -
this organization?" asked
Arafat.
If accurate, Arafat's refer-
ence to foreigners serving in
Black September is espe-
cially significant since there
had been no previous indica-
tion of this. The Japanese
gunmen who killed 2G per-
sons at Lod airport last May
were working for the Popu-
lar Front for the Liberation
of Palestine.
While disclaiming his own
responsibility in the Khart-
oum murders-two Ameri-
can diplomats and a Belgian
envoy-Arafat significantly
did not challenge Sudanese
President Jaafar Nimeri's
assertion of last week that
Fatah's top two representa-
tives in Khartoum had been
part of the plot.
Replying to Nimeri's
charge, Arafat said: "It does
not concern me nor is it
within my ability to stop the
men of Black September
from undertaking their op-
erations."
Philosophy Unclear
Still lacking is a clear in-
dication that Black Septem-
ber has a political philoso-
phy beyind the revenge it
seeks on Hussein and Israel.
Unlike the other guerrilla
organizations, Black Sep-
tember has never mounted a
single military operation in-
side Israel. It has dealt in
international terrorism that
is less visibly connected to
its proclaimed goals than
were the terrorist attacks by
Israeli groups like the Stern
Gang nearly three decades
ago, or than are current
guerrilla operations by
groups like the Tupemaros
in Uruguay or Turkish ter-
ror groups.
Predicting that he would
probably he assassinated,
Salah Khalef, speaking with
another Fatah leader, told
L'Orient le Jour: "tire are
planting the seed. Others
will harvest it . It is
enough for us now to learn,
for example, in reading the
Jerusalem Post that Mrs.
11.1eir had to make her will
before visiting Paris, or that
Mr. Abba Eban had to travel
with a false passport "to
avoid Palestinian attacks.
"For some Arabs, this will
seem only folklore. W"
count on them to do better"
in the future.
Approved For Release 2001/08/28 : CIA-RDP75B0038OR000500060005-0