NEAR EAST AND SOUTH ASIA REVIEW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 44
• Publication Date: October 23, 1987
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
Directorate of
Intelligence
MASTER FILE COPY
Da NOT NE CUT
OR MitiiK CU
Near East and
South Asia Review
Supplement
23 October 1987
ecret-
NESA NESAR 87-024C
ucrooer I Ylf
Copy 262
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
Near East and
South Asia Review
Supplement
23 October 1987
Article PLO-Lebanon: Fatah Force 17 Infighting
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The murder of the Fatah Force 17 commander for Lebanon last
August by Force 17 rivals dramatically demonstrates the intensity
of the power struggles prevailing within Fatah. The struggles are
likely to continue as PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat plays one leader
against another in a calculated effort to preserve his own leadership
position.
Page
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Some articles in Near East and South Asia Review are preliminary
views of a subject or speculative, but the contents normally will be
coordinated as appropriate with other offices within CIA.
Occasionally an article will represent the view of a single analyst;
an item like this will be designated as a noncoordinated view.
Reverse Blank
i
Top Secret
ATCC, A ATCC, AO 07 74C
23 October 1987
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
Near East and
South Asia Review
Article
PLO-Lehr non. Fatah Force 17
Infighting
The murder of the Fatah Force 17 commander for
Lebanon last August by Force 17 rivals dramatically
demonstrates the intensity of the power struggles
prevailing within Fatah. The assassination has
heightened feuding among Fatah cadre and caused
increased concern among the Fatah leadership about
Palestinian rivalries. The struggles are likely to
continue as PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat plays one
leader against another in a calculated effort to
preserve his own leadership position
The body of Lt. Col. Rasim al-Ghul, the Fatah Force
17 commander for Lebanon, was found in southern
Lebanon near the Ayn al-Hilwah refugee camp in
mid-August. He had been shot in the head and chest,
Dispatched to
Lebanon last March, Ghul quickly came into conflict
with Abu Ali Shahin and Zayd Wahbeh, commanders
of two local refugee camps. A source of the US
Embassy in Amman reports that Shahin and
Wahbeh, using a trusted friend to lure Ghul from a
wedding, kidnaped him and killed him shortly
thereafter.
Murder by Opposition
Ghul
almost certainly was killed as a result of feuding
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among local Force 17 commanders who were loyal to
rival Fatah leaders. The US Embassy in Amman
reports that Ghul was loyal to Force 17 chief and
Arafat lieutenant Abu Tayib and had been dispatched
to southern Lebanon on Arafat's personal order.
According to the Embassy, Shahin and Wahbeh?
whom Embassy officials believe are loyal to Khalil al-
Wazir (Abu Jihad), deputy commander of Fatah?
decided to challenge Arafat's authority in southern
Lebanon. arearentiv culminatinei with the murder of
Ghul.
Top Secret
7VPV /VFC 4 ,Q7 111A1'
23 October 1987
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
To' Secret
The Larger Struggle
Whether Ghul's murder was the result of a conflict
between Tayib and Hawari or Tayib and Wazir, it
graphically underscores the intensity of the current
power struggles within Fatah. Conflict between
Colonel Hawari and Abu Tayib has been brewing for
several months.
Hawari is supposed to be subordinate to Abu Tayib as
Force 17 commander, but in practice he is not.
Hawari is apparently highly regarded by Arafat and
constitutes Abu Tayib's most serious PLO
competition in South Lebanon.
Underlying the power struggle is a broader conflict
between Arafat's autocratic leadership style and the
desire of his subordinates for more independent
authority. Arafat traditionally has built his political
strength within the PLO by encouraging the
emergence of competing power centers and then
playing them against each other?in the process
leaving himself in a superior position. Ghul's murder
clearly was a byproduct of this tactic.
Prospects
No matter how Arafat decides to respond to the
conflict among his commanders in Lebanon, violent
wer stru les are likel to continue.
Top Secret
If Arafat decides not to intervene, infighting among
Fatah cadres also is likely to continue. As long as
Arafat continues to play one leader against another,
each will maneuver for greater independence. Given
each group's easy access to small arms, these
maneuverings almost certainly will continue to spill
over into armed confrontations like Ghul's murder
and its bloody aftermath
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/03/04: CIA-RDP88T00792R000300010044-8
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