Fakhri Al Omari

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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