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Palestinian leader George Habash dead

George Habash

DUBAI: Veteran Palestinian leader George Habash has died in Jordan following a massive heart attack. Mr. Habash was the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist-Leninist group, which, for a long time, was one of the most influential groups within the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

The PFLP played a significant role in internationalising the Palestinian cause. In 1970 it hijacked four airliners, and later blew them up on tarmac after all the passengers had been brought to safety.

On one occasion, the PFLP seized OPEC leaders meeting in Vienna. The group is also blamed for the mid-flight bombing in 1970 of Swissair flight SR330, which left 47 persons dead.

Apart from carrying out a string of bombings, the PFLP became well-known for firing at Israeli aircraft and their crew. An advocate of secular Arab nationalism, Mr. Habash was one of the founding members of the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1951. This organisation later joined other groups, leading to the formation of the PFLP. The group opposed the Arab-Israeli peace talks and disagreed with PLO leader Yasser Arafat over holding talks with Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Mr. Habash a “historic leader” and ordered Palestinian flags to fly at half-mast. A three day national mourning has also been declared.

AP reports:

The departed leader will be buried on Monday in Jordan, where he died of a severe heart attack at the age of 81, a confidant said on Sunday.

“Funeral arrangements have been finalised and he will be buried in a suburban Amman cemetery following a funeral mass at the Greek Orthodox Latin rite church,” said his confidant, Leila Khaled, a leading member of the PFLP.

Ms. Khaled, who once hijacked a Western airline under his orders, said her Marxist group expects delegations from Syria, Lebanon and Gulf Arab states, including Bahrain, to attend the funeral. In the Syrian capital of Damascus, where the PFLP is still based, officials from radical Palestinian factions mourned his death.

Khaled Mashaal, the political leader of the Islamist Hamas, who also opposes the talks, said “the Palestinian cause lost a great Palestinian and Arab leader.”

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