The Palestinian Liberation Front (), sometimes referred to as the Palestinian Liberation Front (Abu Nidal Ashqar wing) (), is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

political faction led by Abu Nidal Ashqar.

Profile

The organization is based 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 ...

. It has practically no presence inside Palestine proper. Ideologically the group follows an

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

line.

History

The group emerged from a split in the

Palestinian Liberation Front The Palestinian Liberation Front (, PLF), also known as the Palestine Liberation Front - Abu Abbas Faction or Palestine Liberation Front, is a minor left-wing Palestinian political faction. It carried out the Achille Lauro hijacking in 1985. ...

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 ...

in 1983 as Col.

Abu Musa Abu Musa ( , , ) is an Iranian island in the eastern Persian Gulf, found near the entrance of Strait of Hormuz. Due to the depth of sea, oil tankers and big ships have to pass between Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs, making these is ...

revolted against

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 ...

's leadership and the old PLF was divided into three (one group led by Abu Abbas supported Yasser Arafat, one group led by Abd ul-Fattah Ghanim supported Abu Musa and the third group led by Talat Yaqub sought to remain neutral in this conflict). The PLF (Abu Nidal Ashqar wing) emerged from the latter group.Strindberg, Anders.
The Damascus-Based Alliance of Palestinian Forces: A Primer
', in ''Journal of Palestine Studies'', Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring, 2000), pp. 60–76. University of California Press on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies In 1983 the group joined the PFLP, DFLP and the Palestinian Communist Party in forming the Democratic Alliance in

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 ...

. The Democratic Alliance expressed willingness to engage in dialogue with Arafat. In January 1984 the PLF office in Damascus was stormed by the Ghanim faction and Talat Yaqub was held hostage. Yaqub was released after Syrian intervention and the Ghanim faction relocated to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. The PLF (Talat Yaqub) broke relations with PLO over the Amman Agreement. Along with the PFLP, the group left the Democratic Alliance and joined the pro-Syrian Palestinian National Salvation Front instead. Relations with PLO were re-initiated at the start of the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

. At the 18th session of 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 ...

, a plan to reunify the Talat Yaqub and Abu Abbas wings was announced. In June 1988 a merger with the Abu Abbas faction was announced, with Talat Yaqub as general secretary and Abu Abbas as deputy general secretary. However, the two factions have continued to function separately.

Leadership

Talat Yaqub became the general secretary of this PLF faction. Yaqub died in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

on November 17, 1988. After his death Yusuf Muqtah (Abu Nidal Ashqar) took over the leadership of the organization.Al-Khiyam
مخيم عين الحلوة عاصمة الشتات الفلسطيني
/ref> He holds the title of Deputy General Secretary of the organization.مركز الاعلام والدراسات الفلسطينية
البيان الختامي الصادر عن المؤتمر العربي العام لدعم انتفاضة الشعب الفلسطيني – الدورة السادسة
As of 2010 Ali Aziz was a member of the political bureau of the organization. As of 2015 Mohammad Yassin was the representative of the organization in Lebanon. As of 2007 the representative of the organization in

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

was Walid Jumaa.saidanet.com
اعتصامان لمناسبة اليوم العالمي لمناهضة التعذيب في صيدا

Relations to other factions

PLF (Talat Yaqub/Abu Nidal Ashqar wing) 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 ...

alongside the PLF (Abu Abbas wing). In 1993 the PLF (Abu Nidal Ashqar wing) rejected the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

and left the PLO for the anti-Oslo Alliance of Palestinian Forces (APF).

Armed wing

As of 1999 the organization claimed to have 200 fighters in

South Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...

, but that they had been put on reserve in 1993.

References

{{Palestinian political parties 1983 establishments in Palestine Anti-Israeli sentiment in Palestine Arab nationalism in Palestine Arab nationalist militant groups Offshoots of the Arab Nationalist Movement Arab nationalist political parties Former factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization Palestinian militant groups Palestinian nationalist parties Political parties established in 1983 Socialist parties in Palestine