A trial of an alleged associate of Abu Nidal in Paris in 2021 is set to turn the spotlight on the wave of violence waged against European capitals by the Palestinian terrorist leader during the 1970s and 1980s.
Walid Abdulrahman Abu Zayed, 62, also from Palestine, was extradited from Norway, his home since 1991, and returned to France in November, when he was remanded to stand trial on charges relating to an attack on a kosher restaurant in the French capital in August 1982.
Six people were killed and 22 injured in the attack in the Marais district during which up to five men opened fire on and threw grenades into the restaurant.
The French authorities have blamed the Abu Nidal Organisation for the attack, and say Mr Abu Zayed was a participant. Mr Abu Zayed strongly denies any involvement and says he was in Monte Carlo at the time.
The decision by the French authorities to press charges against Mr Abu Zayed nevertheless raises haunting images of the ruthless campaign of violence that Abu Nidal and his militant Palestinian followers waged throughout Europe during the 1970s and 1980s.
Among some of Abu Nidal's more notorious exploits during this period were the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972 and the attacks on airports in Rome and Vienna in 1985.
Abu Nidal was also held responsible for the 1984 assassination of Khalifa Ahmed Abdel Aziz Al Mubarak, the UAE’s ambassador to France. At the time the killing was attributed to a group calling itself the Arab Revolutionary Brigades which claimed responsibility for attacking the diplomat, who died aged 36 soon after being shot outside his home. But western intelligence officials later concluded the assassination was the work of Abu Nidal’s organisation.
At the time of the killing of the Emirati diplomat, who in 2014 had a street named in his honour in Abu Dhabi behind the Crown Prince’s Court in Al Bateen, Abu Nidal was widely regarded as the most lethal exponent of his deadly art.
For this reason he found himself in great demand in several Arab countries with regimes keen to hire the Palestinian militant to do their dirty work on their behalf. In a career spanning several decades, Abu Nidal based himself in capitals including Baghdad, Damascus and Tripoli.
In an age when Islamist-inspired extremists have been held responsible for carrying out many attacks on the streets of Europe, it is hard to recall a time when militants tended to be of a more secular outlook, with the the primary aim of establishing an independent homeland for the Palestinian people.
That was certainly the case with Abu Nidal, whose real name was Sabri Al Banna and who was born in the Palestinian port of Jaffa in 1937 during the British mandate to a family of prosperous, middle-class plantation owners.
Like many Palestinians of his generation, Al Banna was forced into exile as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, with the result that he emerged as one of the most committed Palestinian militants of his generation, eventually adopting the nom de guerre Abu Nidal (“Father of the Struggle”) in the late 1960s.
From an early age in his career he formed links with a series of Arab intelligence agencies, starting with Iraq in the 1970s, where he supported the Ba’ath party’s revolutionary, and decidedly anti-western, agenda. It was during his time in Baghdad that Abu Nidal linked up with Black September, the uncompromising Palestinian organisation responsible for the attack on the Munich Olympics. Abu Nidal’s enthusiasm for armed operations was reinforced by four months spent on a course in guerrilla tactics in North Korea and China.
In Baghdad, he established a pattern of ties with Arab states and, at a time when Iraq’s relations with Syria were at a low ebb, was responsible for launching a series of attacks in Damascus, including two attempts to assassinate the Syrian foreign minister.
By 1980, however, Iraq, which by then was at war with Iran and seeking to improve relations with the West, was beginning to tire of Abu Nidal’s activities, with the result that he was able to patch up his differences with the Assad regime and relocate his activities to Damascus, from where he was involved in a number of high-profile attacks.
At this stage in his career Abu Nidal had fallen out with Yasser Arafat, the head of the mainstream Palestine Liberation Organisation, over the PLO leader’s attempts to establish a peace dialogue with Israel. Consequently, for much of Abu Nidal’s sojourn in Damascus he planned attacks on PLO and Jordanian targets at Syria’s behest.
This was a period with the Assad regime was sponsoring a rebellion within the PLO against Yasser Arafat and expelling Palestinian fighters from Lebanon; at the same time it sought to put a stop to moves towards Jordanian-Palestinian co-operation in seeking a settlement with Israel, which would have excluded Syria.
Abu Nidal’s men played an important role in disrupting these moves with attacks, including the assassination in 1984 of a Jordanian diplomat in Bucharest, the bombing in 1985 of the British Airways offices in Madrid and Rome, and the murder in April 1985 of an exiled Palestinian mayor in Rome.
Perhaps Abu Nidal’s most controversial assignment during this period was the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to London in 1982, an act that was subsequently used by the Israeli government to justify its 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
This tumultuous event, which resulted in the infamous massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, was a particularly traumatic time for the Palestinian cause as the Israeli military sought to destroy the PLO’s power base in the country.
By the mid-1980s, though, even the Assad regime began to find its close association with one of the world’s most infamous terrorists an embarrassment. Abu Nidal was obliged to relocate his operations yet again, this time basing himself in Tripoli under the protection of Libya’s erratic dictator Colonel Muammar Qaddafi.
This was the period when the Reagan administration had designated Qaddafi “public enemy number one”, and had launched air strikes against Tripoli in the spring of 1986. From his new Tripoli base, Abu Nidal was heavily involved in orchestrating Qaddafi’s response to the air strikes, including the murder of several western hostages in Lebanon. More recently it has been claimed that Abu Nidal was also involved in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in December 1988, in which 259 people died, making it the worst terrorist attack on British soil.
Abu Nidal’s notorious career eventually came to an end in the late 1980s when his group was destroyed by factional in-fighting after he had masterminded the murder of the PLO’s security chief, Abu Iyad, with the result he spent the rest of his days in anonymous exile in various Arab countries until his death was announced in Baghdad in the summer of 2002.
Even then his demise was shrouded in mystery, with conflicting reports that he had been murdered by Saddam Hussein’s henchmen, while sources close to his organisation, the Fatah Revolutionary Council, said he had taken his own life because he was “dying of cancer and addicted to painkillers”.
Nevertheless, by the time of his passing Abu Nidal had cemented his reputation as the most ruthless Palestinian militant of his generation, being responsible for carrying out more than 90 attacks spanning three continents, including kidnappings, murders, bombings and hijackings.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
Criteria: Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000. The process take six to eight weeks, after which the investor must travel to Vanuatu or Hong Kong to take the oath of allegiance. Citizenship and passport are normally provided on the same day.
Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
Oppenheimer
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The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Results
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US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
Korean Film Festival 2019 line-up
Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
On Your Wedding Day, June 27 at 7pm
The Great Battle, June 27 at 9pm
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, June 28 at 4pm
Romang, June 28 at 6pm
Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission, June 28 at 8pm
Underdog, June 29 at 2pm
Nearby Sky, June 29 at 4pm
A Resistance, June 29 at 6pm
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
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Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.
A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.
Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
South Africa 66 (Tries: De Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant, Steyn, Brits, Willemse; Cons: Jantjies 8)
Canada 7 (Tries: Heaton; Cons: Nelson)
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
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