THE JEWISH FUNERAL DIRECTORS OF AMERICA
will present
Abu Nidal Weaves
A Web of Terror
Living Through Mourning
YITZHAK RABI
Finding Comfort and Hope
When a Loved One Has Died
Special to The Jewish News
T
Harriet Sarnoff Schiff
Author of
The Bereaved Parent
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 at 4:00 P.M.
at the
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28
Friday, November 14, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
INSIGHT
srael flatly refused an
American invitation
to participate the
aerial attack against targets
in Libya last April.
So reports Israeli journalist
Yossi Melman in his newly
published book: The Master
Terrorist: The True Story Be-
hind Abu Nidal".
"After the hijacking of the
Achille Lauro cruise ship by
Palestinian terrorists con-
nected to the Abu Nidal ter-
rorist group and the killing of
the elderly American Leon
Klinghoffer, the United
States and Israel
strengthened their intelli-
gence cooperation," Melman
explained.
"Before the attack. on
Libya, the Americans felt
that if Israel joined the oper-
ation, it is more likely to suc-
ceed. But Israel refused,
mainly because it did not
want to open a new battle
front in the Mediterranean."
Israel's refusal to join the
attack is one in a series of
revelations included in Mel-
man's book on the interna-
tional network of terrorism
headed by Abu Nidal and
sponsored by Syria and
Libya.
According to Melman, dip-
lomatic correspondent of the
Israeli daily Davar, Abu
Nidal is responsible for more
than 100 attacks in various
countries, including the Vie-
nna and Rome airport mas-
sacres last December, the
Achille Lauro hijacking and
the aborted attempt to blow
up an El Al plane in London,
with several hundred
passengers aboard.
Melman claims that Abu
Nidal replaced Karlos (The
Jackal), otherwise known as
Ramiras Saaches, as the
world's most dangerous and
violent terrorist. Karlos,
Melman believes, was "ex-
terminated" by his Libyan
paymasters. "Since the 1976
attack on OPEC in Vienna,
Karlos was not heard of. He
probably knew too much and
was done away with by the
Libyans," Melman said.
Who is Abu Nidal, the ter-
rorist who threatened to kill
President Reagan and Queen
Elizabeth of Britain, and who
attempted the assassination
of PLO leader Yasir Arafat in
1974? In the interview and in
his book, Melman portrays
Abu Nidal as a crafty, elusive
and shrewd organizer of a
small, yet effective terrorist
group of no more than 200
active members.
"Abu Nidal is very elusive.
He goes from Syria to Libya
to South Yemen though his
family, his wife, son and two
daughters, live in Iraq. He is
funded by Libya and Syria
and has a solid infrastructure
of supporters in Western
Europe and offices in Eastern
Europe," Melman said.
"Abu Nidal represents to
most the extreme, uncom-
promising approach of the
Palestinians to their conflict
with Israel. He believes that
the only solution to the con-
flict with Israel can be
achieved through armed
struggle and demise of the
Jewish state. He is fanatical
and uncompromising."
Even PLO chairman Yasir
Arafat is too moderate for
Abu Nidal. After the 1967
Six-Day War, Abu Nidal
joined the PLO, only to leave
it in 1973 during a heated
dispute with Arafat, who be-
came his bitter enemy. The
Fatah, Arafat's branch of the
PLO, passed a death sentence
on Abu Nidal after his failed
attempt to assassinate
Arafat.
According to Melman, be-
tween 1978 and 1982 Abu
Nidal and his organization
killed seven PLO officials. In
1982, Melman noted, Abu
Nidal started attacking Is-
raeli targets in Europe. On
June 3, 1982, Abu Nidal's
terrorists attacked and se-
verely wounded in London Is-
raeli Ambassador Shlomo
Argov. A few days later, Is-
raeli forces invaded Lebanon,
citing the attack in London
as one of the reasons for the
invasion.
Melman contends that Abu
Nidal operates in a number
of East European capitals. He
has offices in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, and Bucharest,
Romania, and his henchmen
even attacked Jordanian dip-
lomats in Romania in 1985.
"No other terrorist organ-
ization is tolerated by the
East Europeans," Melman
pointed out. "Abu Nidal is an
exception." The reason? "Abu
Nidal is the outlet and con-
nection of the Eastern • block
to terrorist organizations out-
side which are used to de-
stabilize the West," he ex-
plained.
Abu Nidal was born
Sabri-al Banna in Jaffa in
1937, the son of a wealthy
businessman who had 13
wives and thousands of acres
of orchards. After the 1948
war, he moved with his fam-
ily to Gaza, then to the West
Bank and then to Saudi
Arabia and Iraq. A teacher
by profession, he also studied
engineering in Cairo, but did
not finish his studies. He
called his first-born son Nidal
(Struggle) and later adopted
the name Abu (father of) Ni-
dal. According to Melman,
Abu Nidal has one brother
and other relatives who live
in the West Bank. Abu Nidal
travels around the world with
scores of passports, "but he
never disguises his face."
Melman asserts. Melman ex-
pects the world to see more of
Abu Nidal's atrocities. "He is
an obsessed terrorist who is
surely going to commit more
atrocities sooner or later,"
Melman said.
Copyright 1986, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency