Palestine Liberation Front
Originally founded by Ahmad Jibril in 1958, the Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian terrorist organization, not especially active at present, that has long been part of shifting alliances.
1960s splits
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine formed in 1967, from a merger of PLF, Heroes of the Return and The Youth of Revenge. Jibril, however, spun off the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command a year later. [1]
1980s split
It again split, in 1983, into split again into pro-Palestine Liberation Organization, pro-Syrian, and pro-Libyan factions. The PLO-based faction, led by Muhammad Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Abbas) had been based in Baghdad. Again, the pro-Syrian faction of the PLF underwent a split in January 1984 when central committee member Abd al-Fatah Ghanim seized control seized the PLF offices and General Secretary Tal'at Ya'akub.
Ghanim's faction, which moved to Libya, supported Syrian-sponsored Fatah rebels and Rejection Front organizations, and moved its operations to Libya, but conducted attacks from Lebanon.
The freed Ya'akub's faction based itself in Lebanon and wa most neutral, but did not merge again with Abbas' group until 1989, a year after Ya'akub's death. It was not effective in penetrating Israel. [2]
Abbas' faction is responsible for the attack on the cruise ship Achille Lauro.
2000s
After the Iraq War, Abbas was hed Coalition Forces in April 2003 and subsequently died in custody of natural causes in March 2004. He was to be buried in Damascus, Syria.[3]
The PLF has conducted aerial raids on Israel and was more active in the al-Aqsa Intifadah.
References
- ↑ "In the Spotlight: The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)", Center for Defense Information, 14 November 2002
- ↑ Palestine Liberation Front, Federation of American Scientists
- ↑ Greg Myer (16 March 2004), "Middle East: Syria: Abu Abbas To Be Buried Near Damascus", New York Times