Fakhri Al Omari

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Fakhri Al Omari
Born1936
Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine
Died14 January 1991 (aged 54–55)
Carthage, Tunisia
Cause of deathAssassination
Burial placeAmman, Jordan
NationalityPalestinian

Fakhri Al Omari, known as Abu Muhammad, (Arabic: فخري العمري; 1936 – 14 January 1991) was a Palestinian who was a member of the Fatah movement. He was an aide of Salah Khalaf. They were assassinated by the Abu Nidal Organization, another Palestinian group, in Tunisia on 14 January 1991.

Biography[edit]

Al Omari was born in Jaffa in 1936.[1][2] He was one of the participants in the first meeting of the Fatah movement in Cairo in 1955.[1] Therefore, he was among the early members of the group.[2] He was trained in specialist intelligence in Cairo in 1969.[3] He served as an aide to the Fatah founder Salah Khalaf and was an operations officer in the group.[4]

Al Omari was a member of the Black September Organization which attacked and killed the Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in September 1972.[4][5] He was one of the planners of the attack.[4] The decision to organize the Munich attack was taken by Salah Khalaf, Abu Daoud and Al Omari in a meeting at a Roman coffee shop in early July 1972.[3] Al Omari took the weapons from the lockers in the Munich central railway station.[4] These weapons which would be used in the attack were put there by two Palestinians on 23 August 1972.[4]

Al Omari was allegedly among those who planned the assassination of the Jordian Prime Minister Wasfi Tal in Cairo in November 1971.[5]

Due to his direct involvement in the Munich attack Al Omari was on the assassination list of the Mossad's Committee X.[6]

Assassination[edit]

Al Omari was assassinated in Carthage, Tunisia, on 14 January 1991 along with Salah Khalaf at the home of Hayel Abdul Hamid, chief security officer of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).[1][7] Both Khalaf and Al Omari died instantly, and Abdul Hamid died in a hospital.[8] A funeral service was held for them in Amman where they were buried at the martyr's cemetery.[9]

The perpetrator was Hamza Abu Said, a Palestinian bodyguard, who had been born in Wahdat refuge camp, Jordan, in 1963.[7][8] He is thought to be recruited by the Abu Nidal Organization for this attack.[2] He held Abdul Hamid's wife and daughter hostage for five hours.[8][10] Then he escaped from the site, but he was captured by the Tunisian security forces.[11]

Abu Said was interrogated and imprisoned by the Tunisian authorities. He declared during the interrogation that he was an agent of the Abu Nidal Organization.[12] Later the PLO leader Yasser Arafat managed to take him from the Tunisians through his meeting with the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.[8] Abu Said was transferred to Sanaa, Yemen, where he was questioned and tried by the PLO and was given a death sentence.[8][13] He was found dead in his cell in June 1991.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Maram Daraghma. "31 years on the assassination of three Palestinian leaders Abu Iyad, Abu Al-Hol and Al-Amri". pnn.ps. Bethlehem. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Ilan Pappé; Johnny Mansour, eds. (2022). Historical Dictionary of Palestine (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-5381-1986-0.
  3. ^ a b Andrew Silke; Anastasia Filippidou (June 2020). "What drives terrorist innovation? Lessons from Black September and Munich 1972". Security Journal. 33 (2): 210–227. doi:10.1057/s41284-019-00181-x. hdl:1826/14221. S2CID 256516270.
  4. ^ a b c d e Aaron J. Klein (2005). Striking back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's deadly response. New York: Random House. pp. 15, 18, 123. ISBN 9781400064274.
  5. ^ a b Christopher Dobson; Ronald Payne (1979). The Weapons of Terror: International Terrorism at Work. London; Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press Ltd. p. 159. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-16111-9. ISBN 978-1-349-16111-9.
  6. ^ Courtney Farrell (2010). Terror at the Munich Olympics. North Mankato, MN: Abdo Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-61613-333-7.
  7. ^ a b Youssef M. Ibrahim (16 January 1991). "The P.L.O.; Suspicion in Palestinian Slayings Now Focuses on Abu Nidal Group". The New York Times. Cairo. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Patrick Seale (1993). Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire. London: Arrow. pp. 35, 39. ISBN 9780099225713.
  9. ^ Edward Gorman (17 January 1991). "Alert over funerals of PLO men". The Times. Amman. p. 3. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  10. ^ Richard Owen; Penny Gibbins (16 January 1991). "Arabs defy curfew in violent aftermath of assassinations". The Times. No. 63916. Jerusalem; Tunis. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  11. ^ Edgar O'Ballance (1998). The Palestinian Intifada. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 95. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-26106-2. ISBN 978-1-349-26106-2.
  12. ^ David Pryce-Jones (13 February 1991). "Mossads under the bed". The Times. No. 64255. p. 34. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Chronology January 16, 1991-April 15, 1991". The Middle East Journal. 45 (3): 475–502. Summer 1991. JSTOR 4328317.
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