Muhammad Zaidan aka Muhammad Abbas (10 December 1948 – 8 March 2004), sometimes known as Abu Abbas ( ''Abū ʿAbbās;'' ), was (with Tal'at Ya'qoub) a founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) Organization.

Political background

Zaidan was born in 1948 in Safed, Palestine, though other sources state that he was born in a Syrian refugee camp. He studied at the

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

where he joined the radical, pro-Syrian

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command () or PFLP-GC is a Palestinian nationalist militant organisation based in Syria. It is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was founded in 1968 by A ...

(PFLP-GC) under

Ahmed Jibril Ahmed Jibril (; – 7 July 2021) was a Palestinian militant and political leader who was the founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC). During the Syrian Civil War, Jibril was a ...

in 1968. In 1977, major disagreements arose between the PFLP-GC, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and other Palestinian factions based in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Zaidan, who opposed

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n involvement in the Lebanese war, left the PFLP-GC and created the PLF with Talaat Yaacoub, which eventually split into three separate factions (and then later re-merged). Zaidan's faction of the PLF, which was the largest of the three, moved its headquarters to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

PLF leader

Since its inception in 1977, the Abbas-led PLF was a member of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

and received support from both the PLO and

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

movement. Unlike the PFLP-GC, the PLF has supported peace negotiations between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the Palestinians. Zaidan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 1984 and represented the

Palestinian National Council The Palestinian National Council (PNC; ) is the legislative body - in Arabic, the ''Majlis'' - of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PNC is intended to serve as the parliament that represents all Palestinians inside and outside th ...

(PNC) in 1989 during peace negotiations with

. Although Zaidan was wanted by Israel for his involvement in

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

attacks against Israel (including attacks against civilians) throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Israel allowed him to travel freely in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

throughout the 1990s because he supported the peace negotiations. One notable attack by the PLF under Zaidan's leadership resulted in the deaths of Danny Haran (age 28) and his two daughters, Einat (4) and Yael (2) in April 1979 in their

Nahariya Nahariya () is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. As of , the city had a population of . The city was founded in 1935 by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton River, Ga'aton (riv ...

, Israel home by Samir Kuntar.

''Achille Lauro'' hijacking

Throughout the 1980s, the PLF launched attacks on both civilian and military targets in the north of Israel, across the Lebanese border. In 1985 he masterminded the hijacking of the Italian

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

Achille Lauro Achille Lauro (; 16 June 1887 – 15 November 1982) was an Italian businessman and politician. He is widely considered one of the main precursors of modern populism in Italian politics. He was nicknamed by his supporters ''Il Comandante'' ("Th ...

''. During the hijacking, 69-year-old American Jewish passenger Leon Klinghoffer, who used a wheelchair, was shot dead and thrown overboard. The four hijackers, fearful of United States military intervention, surrendered to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in return for safe passage out of Egypt, based on the pretext that they had done no harm to any of the passengers. Four F-14 aircraft from the U.S. 6th Fleet intercepted the plane carrying the hijackers to Tunisia and escorted it to Sigonella, a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

base in Italy. There they discovered that Zaidan and PLO political officer Hassan were also on the plane. Insider deals within the Italian government made them both flown from Sigonella to Rome. From there, Zaidan and Hassan boarded a Yugoslav civilian airliner bound for

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Despite American requests for the extradition of Zaidan from Yugoslavia, he was not extradited because of Yugoslav relations with the PLO. He then flew to

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

and from there to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, where

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

sheltered him from

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

to Italy. He remained in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and commanded the PLF (reunited in 1989) until the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Italy sentenced Zaidan ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'' to five terms of life imprisonment for his role in the ''Achille Lauro'' hijacking. He was also wanted in the US for crimes including

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. In 1996, he apologized for the ''Achille Lauro'' hijacking and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer and advocated peace talks between Palestinians and Israel; the apology was rejected by the US government and Klinghoffer's family.

Death in custody

Subsequent to the US invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003, Zaidan was captured by American Special Forces on 14 April 2003 while he was attempting to flee from Baghdad to

. Italy subsequently requested his

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

reported on 9 March 2004 that Zaidan had died the previous day, of natural causes, while in U.S. custody. The PLF accused the Americans of assassinating their leader. The U.S. authorities agreed to give Abbas' body to the Palestine Red Crescent Society for burial in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

on the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. However, his burial there was blocked by the Israeli authorities, and he was buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

instead.

References

External links

*
Achille Lauro hijacking
''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' H2G2
U.S. captures mastermind of Achille Lauro hijacking
David Ensor, ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

'', 16 April 2003
The World Should Know What He Did to My Family
Smadar Haran Kaiser, ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

(mirror)'', 18 May 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaidan, Muhammad 1948 births 2004 deaths Fugitives wanted by Iraq Hijackers MS Achille Lauro Palestinian Liberation Front members Palestine Liberation Organization members Palestinian Arab nationalists Palestinian nationalists Palestinian people who died in prison custody People imprisoned on terrorism charges Prisoners who died in United States military detention People convicted in absentia Palestinian people imprisoned abroad