Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO)
Translation Abu Nidal means "Father of Struggle".
Also Known As • Fatah Revolutionary Council • Arab Revolutionary Council • Arab Revolutionary Brigades • Black September • Revolutionary Organisation of Socialist Muslims.
Description International terrorist organisation. Made up of various functional committees, including political, military, financial, etc. A rejectionist and extremely violent terrorist group, the ANO opposes all efforts toward political reconciliation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The group contends that both inter-Arab and intra-Palestinian terrorism are needed to precipitate an all-embracing Arab revolution that alone can lead to the liberation of "occupied Palestine". The ANO is considered the most dangerous terrorist group in existence, and its area of operations is one of the most extensive. The group made its initial appearance after the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war when Yassir Arafat decided to restrict terrorist operations to Israeli targets. Abu Nidal decided to fight any effort at moderation by continuing international operations against Israeli targets and by targeting pro-Arafat Palestinians and moderate Arab states. The rift between Abu Nidal and Arafat became so intense that Abu Nidal was tried in absentia and sentenced to death by Arafat. Since its founding, the ANO has also targeted those nations holding its operatives as prisoners. As Abu Nidal's following grew, the group's operations against Palestinian moderates escalated. During the first half of 1978, the ANO assassinated three prominent PLO officials, who were allies of Arafat. Although a temporary rapprochement took place in 1978, the ANO continues to target moderate Palestinian elements.
Origin Split from the PLO in 1974.
Objectives Place the "armed struggle" against the "Zionist enemy" as the first priority of the Palestine resistance movement. Undermine efforts to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace by terrorising pro-Arafat Palestinians and by attacking Israeli and Jewish targets. Threaten or attack "reactionary" regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the gulf sheikhdoms. Affirm Arab commitment to the destruction of Israel. Intimidate those nations currently holding Abu Nidal operatives in prison into releasing them.
Strength Several hundred "militia" in Lebanon and overseas support structure.
Leadership Leader, Sabri al-Banna, AKA Abu Nidal.
Operational Arena Based in Iraq (1974-83) and Syria (1983-87); currently based in Libya with substantial presence in Lebanon (in the Bekaa Valley and several Palestinian refugee camps in coastal areas of Lebanon). The ANO also maintains a presence in Algeria as well as in other nations in the middle east and Africa. some elements, may have relocated to Iraq from Libya in mid-1990. The group has demonstrated its ability to operate over a wide geographic area, including the middle east, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Methods Armed attacks on airports, public gathering places, hijackings, bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings. The group's attacks are noted for their ferocity and their intentions of causing massive casualties.
Targets • United States • Western Europe (UK, France, etc.) • Israel • Moderate Palestinians • The PLO • Arab countries • Jews of any nationality. Activities Has carried out over 90 terrorist attacks since 1974 in 20 countries, killing or injuring almost 900 people. 1973, September While still affiliated with Fatah, Abu Nidal mounted an operation, seizing the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Paris, and demanding the release of Abu Dawud, a Fatah terrorist being held in Jordan. 1974, October Attempted assassination of Fatah official Abu Mazim. Abu Nidal was sentenced to death in absentia by Fatah for this attempt. 1976, September Attack and take-over of the Semiramis Hotel in Damascus. 1976, October Attacks on Syrian embassies in Islamabad and Rome. 1976, November Attack on the intercontinental hotel in Amman. 1976, December Failed assassination attempt against Syrian foreign minister in Damascus. 1977, October Another failed attempt to assassinate the Syrian foreign minister, this time in Abu Dhabi. the United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs was killed. 1978, August Attack on the offices of the PLO in Pakistan. 1980, July Attack on the children of a Jewish school in Antwerp. Claimed responsibility for the murder of the Israeli commercial attaché in Brussels. 1981, May Murdered a Vienna city councilman and threatened to kill Austrian chancellor Kreisky. 1981, August Machine-gunned a Vienna synagogue, killing two and wounding 17. 1982, June Attempted assassination of Shlomo Argov, Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom. Murdered a PLO official in Rome with a car bomb. 1982, August Attempted to murder the United Arab Emirates consul in Bombay. 1982, September Assassinated a Kuwaiti diplomat in Madrid. 1982, October Killed one child and injured ten people in a grenade and machine-gun attack on a synagogue in Rome. 1983, April Murdered PLO official Issam Sartawi at the socialist international conference in Lisbon. 1983, October Attempted to murder the Jordanian ambassador to Italy in Rome. Severely wounded the Jordanian ambassador to India in New Delhi. 1983, November Attacked security guards assigned to the Jordanian embassy in Athens, killing one and wounding another. 1983, December Believed responsible for bombing the French cultural centre in Izmir, Turkey. 1984, February Implicated in the Paris murder of the UAE ambassador to France. 1984, March Assassinated a British diplomat in Athens. 1984, November Assassinated the British high commissioner in Bombay, India. 1984, December Murdered Arafat supporter Ismail Darwish in Rome. 1985, March Kidnapped British journalist Alec Collett in Beirut; Collett was reported to have been murdered one year later, but information is inconclusive. Attacked the Rome offices of ALIA, the Royal Jordanian Airlines, wounding three people. also believed to be responsible for the simultaneous attacks on ALIA offices in Athens and Nicosia. 1985, April Fired a rocket at an ALIA airliner as it took off from Athens airport. although the rocket did not detonate, it left a hole in the fuselage. 1985, July Bombed the British Airways office in Madrid, killing one and wounding twenty seven. five minutes later attacked the Madrid offices of ALIA, two blocks away, wounding two persons. 1985, September Grenade attack against the Cafe de Paris in Rome, wounding thirty eight people. Hijacked an Egyptian airliner to Malta, where sixty people were killed during a rescue attempt by Egyptian forces. 1985, December Major attacks include Rome and Vienna airports, killing sixteen and wounding scores. Claimed by the cells of the Arab Fedayeen. 1986, September Attempted hijacking of Pan American flight #73 at Karachi, killing twenty two persons. Less than twenty four hours after the Karachi attack, ANO operatives attacked the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, killing more than twenty worshippers. 1987, July Claimed responsibility for bombing a restaurant on the west bank of the occupied territories, wounding fifteen. 1987, November Claimed to have seized a yacht off the coast of Israel and taken its eight occupants hostage. 1988, March A lone gunman attacked an Alitalia airlines crew aboard a commuter bus in Bombay, seriously wounding the crew captain. 1988, May In Khartoum, Sudan, ANO operatives killed eight and wounded twenty one in simultaneous attacks on the Acropole Hotel and the Sudan Club. 1988, July Following the premature detonation of a car bomb at an Athens pier, in which two ANO operatives were killed, ANO gunmen aboard the day excursion ship "City of Poros" attacked the passengers, killing nine and wounding ninety eight. 1990, March ANO members attacked and seriously wounded a senior ANO dissident in Algeria. 1991, January 14 PLO deputy chief Abu Iyad, considered the second most senior official of Fatah after Yassir Arafat; and Abu Hul, commander of the western sector forces of Fatah, were assassinated by an Abu Nidal operative, in Tunis.
External Aid The ANO has received considerable support, including safe haven, training, logistical assistance, and financial aid from Iraq and Syria (until 1987); continues to receive aid from Libya, in addition to close logistical and operational support for terrorist operations. Despite its support by a succession of state sponsors the group maintains its own political agenda. Although many of the ANO's operations coincide with the interests of its sponsors, the group also conducts independent operations. The ANO is financially sound and may be one of the most economically viable of all terrorist organisations. The group is believed to draw one third of its income from patron states, one third from graft or blackmail/extortion, and one third from its own network of businesses and front organisations.
You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click hereScroll all the way down to read replies.Show all stories by Author:  50864 ( Click here )
Spring is coming |
