His Own Bleak and Bloody Prognosis

The following is adapted from an interview with Abu Nidal, leader of the radical, offshoot Palestinian Revolutionary Council of Fatah. The interview was published in October in the West German newsweekly, Der Spiegel, and translated by Mark Wurm for The Times.

On Syria:

I am a committed follower of Greater Syria . . . . We (his group) are Syrian citizens. Syria is for us the mother-nation, Syria is for us history, society, community, geography. Until recently, half of Lebanon was a region of Syria . . . . Greater Syria consists of Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Syria. A state such as Jordan did not exist in Arabic history before the 1920s.

On Libya’s Col. Moammar Kadafi:

Brother Moammar is a sincere person. We are bound by a deep and strong friendship. Our relations are grounded in mutual respect. We dream the same dream: of a United Arabic Nation . . . . His country is a strong base against imperialism and Zionism . . . . He is a great help to us . . . . His fundamental principles are identical to ours.

On enemies:

My enemy is the Zionist occupation of my homeland, Palestine. My enemy is imperialism in all its forms. My enemies are the breakup of my Arabic nation into separate (states) and its disunity. My enemies are also the conventions and the chaotic circumstances in our Arabic society and the seduction of our youth . . . .

If there is anything absolute in this world, it is our enmity to American imperialism, for without American help the Zionist creation would no longer exist. The Americans are stirring up the war in the Gulf and the discord between the Arabs . . . . I can assure you of one thing: If we are given the chance to cause America even the most insignificant harm, we will not hesitate to do it. Between the Americans and us there exists a war to the death. In the coming months and years the Americans will be thinking about us.

In response to the question, “Is President Reagan on your death list?”:

Naturally . . . . Reagan spent hundreds of millions of dollars in order to make the White House secure. We like him being so afraid. He should stay that way.

On terrorism vs. justifiable war:

Terrorism is the liquidation of innocent people for no reason by a group or organization or governmental power, such as in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatilla . . . . “Just combat” means the right of a people to make use of all available means against the usurpers of (their) land.

On Jewish targets outside Israel:

The question is not whether civilians or civil Jewish establishments are hit, but rather that many such establishments, which may outwardly appear to be innocent, are in reality serving the Zionist secret service, Mossad . . . . (We assassinated Shlomo Argov, Israeli ambassador to Britain) at the time that he had taken over a leading role for Mossad in Europe. Other than him, our fighters have upheld my strict orders not to harm diplomats . . . .

I’ll tell you straight: Every Arab or Palestinian who has contact or any kind of relationship to Mossad will end (in) liquidation. We have conducted almost 100 such attacks without having publicized them.

On Egypt’s and Jordan’s dealing with Israel:

It is only a question of time before (Anwar) Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak, will pay dearly for his treason to Arab history . . . . Our organization has determined to liquidate King Hussein. Several assassination attempts have been foiled.

On the murder of Egyptian journalist Youssef Sebai in 1978:

You’re getting me to talk about that action for the first time. It actually involved not just Sebai, but his intimate friend President Sadat . . . . We shot Sebai on Cyprus, and Sadat reacted exactly as we expected. He shipped his special troops . . . . With that, Sadat was defenseless at home. The further plan contemplated taking advantage of this and killing Sadat and his confidants. For certain reasons this second phase could not be completed . . . .

(As for) Ahmed Djarallah, the editor-in-chief of (a) Kuwaiti paper . . . . We have nothing against his commentaries and analyses . . . . Nevertheless, this corrupt person had decided to accept an invitation in occupied Palestine. Every Arab should know: Treason will be punished with death . . . . We shot at him but missed. Hopefully he got the message.

On the Palestine Liberation Organization’s chief, Yasser Arafat:

That puppet Arafat dances at the command of the Zionists and the Americans. True, he believes that he holds the strings in his hands, but in reality he himself bounces on the strings. Arafat is a marionette who is controlled by (the PLO’s) Fatah and certain Arab regimes.

On the peace movement in Israel:

The so-called Peace Now movement is nothing but whitewash, we don’t believe in it. (Activist) Uri Avneri is a Zionist immigrant; he should return to where he came from--to Germany . . . . If he truly means it (peace), then he should clearly distance himself from the Zionist ideology. Then we will believe what he says . . . .

There are no peaceful solutions anywhere in the world. If you read Arab history, you will see that there has not been a single peaceful path that has led to the solution of our problems . . . .

That the Zionists used force to grab for themselves a piece of my Arabic homeland is not in my eyes actually the crime. Rather, for me the crime would be if we were to allow that these Zionists could ever leave our homeland alive again. That is my philosophy.

I, Abu Nidal, view myself as the answer to the misfortunes of the Arabs.