Abu Nidal

Abu Nidal (Arabic: أبو نضال) (May 1937 – 16 August 2002), born Sabri Khalil al-Banna (Arabic: صبري خليل البنا), was the founder of Fatah – The Revolutionary Council (Arabic: فتح المجلس الثوري), a militant Palestinian separatist group also known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO).[1] At the height of his power in the 1970s and 1980s, Abu Nidal was mostly known as the most merciless of the Palestinian political leaders.[2] He told Der Spiegel in a rare interview in 1985: "I am the evil spirit which moves around only at night causing ... nightmares."[3]

Abu Nidal (أبو نضال)
Born
Sabri Khalil al-Banna (صبري خليل البنا)

May 1937
Died16 August 2002 (age 65)
Resting placeal-Karakh's Islamic cemetery, Baghdad, in a grave marked "M7"
NationalityPalestinian
Alma materCairo University
OccupationMilitant
Political partyFatah – The Revolutionary Council (فتح المجلس الثوري)
known as the Abu Nidal Organization, part of the Palestinian rejectionist front
Spouse(s)Hiyam al-Bita
ChildrenOne son, two daughters
Parent(s)Hajj Khalil al-Banna (father)

Abu Nidal Media

References

  1. Melman 1986, p. 213. The Guardian said that he was born in 1939; The Times said 1940; the Truman Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem gave his birth year as 1934. Issam Sartawi told Yossi Melman it was 1936. Melman says it was 1937.
    • There is also disagreement about his name. The Daily Telegraph has written that he was Hasan Sabri al-Banna; the Middle East International has said he was Muhammad Sabri al-Banna. Stewart Steven says in his writing about the Mossad, that he was Sabri Khalil al-Banna or Mazan Sabri al-Banna. The name Khalil comes from his father; it is an Arab tradition that the father's name be added to the son's name. Al-Banna means "the mason" (Melman 1986, pp. 44–45). He was also known as Amin al-Sirr and Sabri Khalil Abd Al Qadir.
  2. See, for example:
    • MacAskill, Ewen and Nelsson, Richard. "Mystery death of Abu Nidal, once the world's most wanted terrorist", The Guardian, 20 August 2002.
    • Melman, Yossi. The Master Terrorist: The True Story Behind Abu Nidal, Mama Books, 1986, p. 4.
    • McLaughlin, Abraham. "A matter of ethics for cloak-and-dagger set", The Christian Science Monitor, 5 October 2001.
    • "Abu Nidal Organization", Council on Foreign Relations, October 2005.
    • ""Council Decision"" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2014-01-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Council of the European Union, 21 December 2005.
  3. Melman 1986, p. 3.