Ali Hassan Salameh | |
|---|---|
 Ali Hassan Salameh | |
| Native name | علي حسن سلامة |
| Nickname(s) | Red Prince |
| Born | 1 April 1941 Qula,Mandatory Palestine |
| Died | 22 January 1979(1979-01-22) (aged 37) Beirut,Lebanon |
| Allegiance | PLO Black September |
| Years of service | 1958–1979 |
| Rank | Chief of operations |
| Unit | Force 17 |
| Battles / wars | Munich massacre,Sabena Flight 571 |
| Spouse(s) | Um Hassan Georgina Rizk |
| Relations | Hassan Salameh (father) |
Ali Hassan Salameh (Arabic:علي حسن سلامة,ʿAlī Ḥasan Salāmah; 1 April 1941 – 22 January 1979;code name:Abu Hassan) was a Palestinian militant who was the chief of operations forBlack September and founder ofForce 17. He was assassinated in January 1979 as part of anassassination campaign by Mossad.[1]
Salameh was born in the Palestinian town ofQula, near the city ofJaffa, to a wealthy family on 1 April 1941.[2] He was the son of ShaykhHassan Salameh, who was killed in action by theIsraeli army during the1948 Palestine war nearLydda. Ali Salameh was educated inGermany and is thought to have received his military training inCairo andMoscow.[2]
He was known for flaunting his wealth, being surrounded by women and driving sports cars, and having popular appeal amongPalestinian young men; his nickname underlined his popularity—the "Red Prince" (Arabic:الأمير الاحمر). He served as the security chief ofFatah.[3] After theMunich massacre during the 1972Olympic Games, he was hunted by the IsraeliMossad during its assassination campaign. In 1973, Mossad agents killed an innocentMoroccan waiter,Ahmed Bouchiki, in what became known as theLillehammer affair in Norway, mistaking Bouchiki for Salameh, and resulting in the arrest of some of the Israeli agents.[4]
As a result of the failure in Lillehammer and his alleged CIA protection, Salameh felt relatively safe. Having lived under cover in various parts of the Middle East and Europe, in 1978, he marriedGeorgina Rizk, aLebanese celebrity who had beenMiss Universe seven years earlier. The couple spent their honeymoon inHawaii and then stayed atDisneyland inCalifornia.[5] When Rizk became pregnant, she returned to her flat inBeirut where Salameh also rented a separate apartment. Rizk was six months pregnant at the time of his death.[6] Their son Ali Salameh is a political science graduate who studied in Canada.[7] By a prior marriage he was a grandson-in-law ofMohammad Amin al-Husayni. He had two sons from his first marriage to Um Hassan.[6][8]
Salameh served as the key bridge between thePalestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1970 until his death after being recruited as a CIA asset byRobert Ames. The PLO, at the request of the US, had undertaken steps to help ensure the security of both the US Embassy—Salameh responded by posting a PLO guard unit there[9]—and, more generally, American citizens resident in Lebanon. The contacts later developed more extensively as the PLO offered its intelligence assistance in regard to larger regional issues.[10][1][11] The US had undertaken with Israel to avoid contacts with the PLO, but US security interests underGerald Ford, on the advice ofHenry Kissinger, enabled an unofficial relationship which, when discovered by Israel, deeply disturbed Israeli officials. When asked by the Israelis, US officials denied the relationship.[12] The desire to disrupt the channels between the US and the PLO was one of the motivations behind his assassination.[10]
Salameh received dozens of CIA alerts of the Mossad's intention to assassinate him. The CIA also provided him with encrypted communications equipment and considered sending him an armored car. He was also warned by the CIA that his practice of driving around Beirut in convoys of vehicles carrying bodyguards left him vulnerable to an Israeli assassination.[9]
In June 1978, the Mossad intensified its efforts to assassinate Salameh, codenamed Operation Maveer (Burner).Michael Harari was in charge of the operation. A Lebanese agent working forIsraeli military intelligence supplied key details on Salameh's routine. Mossad operatives were subsequently deployed to Beirut to monitor Salameh, one of whom enrolled at the gym where he regularly exercised and befriended him.[9][13] As many as fourteen Mossad agents were involved in the operation.[14] One of the agents believed to be involved wasErika Chambers, who arrived in Beirut in October 1978 posing as an NGO staffer wishing to assist Palestinian orphans. She rented a flat overlooking Salameh's apartment. Two other agents involved in the operation using the aliases Peter Scriver and Roland Kolberg entered Lebanon on British and Canadian passports respectively.[9][15][8]
From October 1978, over a period of six weeks, Mossad agents observed Salameh, noting that he spent most afternoons with Rizk at her apartment in Snoubra, West Beirut, and when not in meetings spent time at the gym and at asauna. An initial plan to kill him with a bomb attack at the sauna was vetoed for fear of excessive civilian casualties. The Mossad decided to kill him with a car bomb. Explosives were placed in the trunk of aVolkswagen which was then parked close to Salameh's apartment block.[9][8]
On 22 January 1979, Salameh was in a convoy of twoChevroletstation wagons headed from Rizk's flat to his mother's for a birthday party.[5][16] Chambers was on her balcony painting, with theVolkswagen parked below onRue Verdun (an upscale commercial and residential street inBeirut). As Salameh's convoy passed the Volkswagen at 3:35 pm and turned ontoRue Madame Curie,[17] 100 kg of explosive attached to the car by a fellow Mossad agent was remotely exploded,[1] either by Chambers or on her signal to another Mossad agent.[14] Harari watched the explosion through a telescope from anIsraeli Navy missile boat off the coast of Beirut.[9]
The detonation left Salameh conscious, but severely wounded and in great pain, having pieces of steel shrapnel embedded in his head and throughout his body. He was rushed to theAmerican University of Beirut, where he died on the operating table at 4:03 p.m.[18] Salameh's four bodyguards were also killed in the explosion.[19] Four bystanders were also killed.[1][14] In addition, at least 16 people were injured in the blast.[19] Immediately following the operation, the Mossad agents involved in the operation left the country. Chambers and two other agents were picked up by boat on the Beirut shore and taken to an Israeli missile boat.[14][9]
Salameh was buried in Beirut after a public funeral ceremony attended byYasser Arafat and about 20,000 Palestinians on 24 January 1979.[20][21]
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