JERUSALEM – Reports Syrian-based arch-terrorist leader Ahmed Jibril, widely blamed for the infamous 1998 Pan Am airplane bombing over Lockerbie, is planning to set up shop in the Gaza Strip are accurate, a senior Palestinian official told WND.
A Jibril associate had claimed to a London newspaper the move was prompted by Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, but senior Lebanese officials told WND recent clashes between Jibril’s group and the Lebanese army may be to blame.
“Jibril has told us he is interested in moving to Gaza since it is now Palestinian controlled,” said a senior Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He is a living hero to most Palestinians and we don’t have a problem with him coming back.”
Jibril is founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, mostly active in Israel in the 1970s, when it carried out scores of large-scale terror attacks that killed more than 50 Israelis. PLFP also perpetuated terror attacks in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, and bombed a Swiss airliner in flight in 1970, killing all 47 passengers and crew members on board.
Jibril has been accused of blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and took credit for sending a shipment of arms to the Gaza Strip in 2001, vowing to send more weapons to the Palestinians.
The PLFP currently has bases in Syria and Lebanon. It has been accused of attempting cross-border incursions into Israel and helping to orchestrate attacks against the Jewish state with other Palestinian terror groups. The group also has a presence in the Palestinian territories.
The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper interviewed a member of PLFP’s Syrian diplomatic office, Adal Al-Hakim, who said Jibril is sending a delegation to Gaza to prepare for the terror leader’s entry into the area. Al-Hakim said the PLFP team will negotiate with Egyptian officials at the border with Gaza, explaining Jabril’s return depends on “the absence of Zionist presence under any form in the area [Gaza], be it roadblocks or crossings.”
Asked if Jirbril is planning to make Gaza his permanent home, al-Hakim replied, “Jibril will see the sufferings and sacrifices of the Palestinians, which will induce him to stay or at least to commute between Gaza and abroad in a sign of connection to both the Palestinian and refugee problems.”
PA President Mahmoud Abbas raised the issue of Jibril’s Gaza relocation during his July 21 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, al-Hakim said.
“Jibril can return and that’s his right. He will receive a Palestinian identification number and he will have the right to leave Gaza or remain in it.”
Al-Hakim claimed Jibril’s planned return is being prompted by Israel’s recent Gaza withdrawal, but Lebanese officials told WND it may be about something else.
“We are very serious about imposing weapons restrictions on the PFLP and other Palestinian groups operating from their camps in Lebanon,” Lebanese leader Walid Jumblatt told WND.
Jumblatt was responding to news reports the past few days about a growing confrontation between Jibril’s group and the Lebanese army, which has noticed large shipments of weapons being transported into Palestinian camps north of Beirut and has deployed around PLFP bases.
Lebanese officials told WND they fear Syrian President Bashar Assad has directed Palestinian groups in Lebanon to initiate a wave of violence and cause a deterioration in the country’s security. Assad hosts Jibril and openly provides funds to the PFLP.
But Anwar Raja, the PLFP representative in Lebanon who is attempting to negotiate an end to the confrontation, said his group is only interested in attacking Israel.
“Our role will not end in Lebanon as long as Israel poses a threat to the country and to the Palestinian refugees,” said Raja.
Raja demanded Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora lift his army’s siege on PLFP bases and allow Palestinian groups to continue arming themselves.
A Lebanese official told WND, “If Jibril is trying to move to Gaza, it’s because he knows he is no longer welcome in Lebanon and he needs to find a new base quickly.”
Uzi Landau, a senior Israeli lawmaker and anti-withdrawal leader told WND, “We are continuing to reap the disastrous ramifications of Sharon’s Gaza withdrawal. All the bad guys are converging in Gaza, where they now have a safe haven, and they are poised to attack us.”
