The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO; ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين - العمليات الخارجية) or Special Operations (PFLP-SO; ) or Special Operations Group (PFLP-SOG; ) were organizational names used by Palestinian radical Wadie Haddad when engaging in international attacks, which were not sanctioned by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Formation

A leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) from its inception, Haddad had been banned from organizing attacks on non-

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i targets after his role in the Dawson's Field hijackings in 1970, which were widely seen as having provoked the

Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...

crackdown on the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

(PLO) in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. However, Haddad defied the ban by claiming to carry out his attacks in the name of a PFLP-EO faction, although he remained part of the PFLP. To support him, he solicited the help of non-PFLP organizations such as the Abu Nidal Organization and the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Revolutionary Cells (RZ). He also employed his PFLP protégé,

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal ( es, link=no, Carlos el Chacal) or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convicted of terrorist crimes, and currently serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murder ...

("Carlos"), who is currently imprisoned in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for terrorist acts committed in 1982-83. It is unclear to what extent the PFLP-EO formed a faction in the real sense of the word, within the Palestinian

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

movement. It may simply have been a faction or trend within the PFLP, or possibly a name tag used to shield the PFLP from the political fallout of Haddad's operations.

Downfall

As discontent grew with Haddad's rogue tactics, and the mainstream PLO pressured the PFLP to cease its international operations, Haddad's position became increasingly precarious. After the botched

Entebbe Operation Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earl ...

in 1976, when

gained worldwide sympathy after rescuing more than one hundred airline passengers held by Haddad's PFLP (or PFLP-EO) men and members of the RZ in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, the PFLP leadership responded by expelling him from the organization. Wadie Haddad died in 1978, in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. This was first reported as being from

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, and later from possible poisoning by

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

. According to the book ''Striking Back'', published by Aaron J. Klein in 2006, Haddad was assassinated by the Mossad, which had sent the chocolate-loving Haddad Belgian chocolates coated with a slow-acting and undetectable poison which caused him to die severals months later. "It took him a few long months to die", Klein said in the book.

Splinter groups

* The 15 May Organization *

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – Special Command The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – Special Command (PFLP-SC) was a minor breakout faction from Wadie Haddad's ultraradical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations (neither group should be confused wit ...

Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions The Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions – LARF ( ar, الفصائل المسلحة الثورية اللبنانية , ''Al Fasael al-Musallaha al-Thawriyya al-Lubnaniyya'') or Fractions armées révolutionnaires libanaises (FARL) in French ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine - External Operations 1970s establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate 1976 disestablishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Arab Nationalist Movement breakaway groups Defunct Palestinian militant groups Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine