PFLP leader's son killed in Beirut car explosion

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 5/20/2002 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[eclectic]

The son of radical Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril was killed Monday in a Beirut car bombing, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla television reported.

Al-Manar, the television station of the Hezbollah guerrilla group which has close links to Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said Jibril's son, 40-year-old Jihad, died in the explosion.

It said it had received the confirmation from Jibril's headquarters in Damascus, Syria.

The blast occurred at midday on a street off the busy shopping area of Corniche Mazraa. Lebanese police officials speaking on customary condition of anonymity said the explosion was caused by a bomb placed under the driver's seat of the Peugeot sedan.

Ambulances, sirens wailing, rushed to the scene of the explosion. Police sealed off the area and opened an investigation.

The blast wrecked the car, shattering its windows and turning its front section into a twisted heap. Its white rear door had turned red with the victim's blood and flesh was scattered for a few meters around the car.

The blast also damaged neighborhood shops and parked cars but, apart from the driver, there were no other casualties.

[powderhorn]

Where is the proof that this guy was guilty of anything? Too many people here are enjoying this death without knowing how or why it happened, could it be that his own people did this because he was assisting Israel or other forces who are trying to thwart terrorism?

He was most likely taken out by Mossad, but in terror families you just never know. He might have been out of favor with his dad. Alexander The Great took out his own dad...The dad might have done it just to make sure that he didn't get Alexandered.

[capitan_refugio]

Yeah. I guess Peugeot hasn't quite worked out those new model carburetor problems yet. Nasty backfire, I understand.

[kinghorse]

Tupac, wussup! I think calling this 40 year old the son of a radical is pretty funny and misleading. When I think of a son, I think of a kid or young adult. This clown was in his 40's. He's had plenty of time to carve his own nitch (and dig his own grave). Mebbe Reuters or whomever wishes to elicit sympathy where none is deserved.

[cake_crumb]

Thanks. The article only strengthens my opinion that the jihad against Jihad was an inside job.

[rmlew]

Jibril is Arabic for Gabriel.

Whjile Gerbils are not part of the Ecosystem, the Syrian Hamster is.
When I saw the rat wired for a remote control, I had an imnage of using Hamsters to take out Hizbullah.

[sakic]

I also am sure there are some cases of the wrong people being executed (i.e., Ox-Bow Incident), but overall the number has been quite low.

I guess that's okay until you or someone you care about is one of those wrong people.

[winner45]

Now, Jihad, is a good Arab.

[Tuco-bad]

I guess that's okay until you or someone you care about is one of those wrong people.

I rather take my chances of being wrongfully convicted in a fair trail, then permitting perps to run free because there is a 1 in 1000 chance they might be innocent.

[Charles Martel]

How sad......perfect waste of a good car.

It was a Peugeot sedan, don't feel too bad.

Can it be? Yes! A "Two-fer"!! :-)

[Catspaw]

From Haaretz News Flash:

22:05

The Lebanese Nationalists Movement takes responsibility for assassination of Jihad Jibril in Lebanon

Monday, May 20, 2002 Sivan 9, 5762	Israel Time:  if (!document.layers)document.write('') 23:37 (GMT+3)

startTime('23:37:22'); if (document.layers) document.write("");

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Last update - 23:25 20/05/2002

Unkown group takes responsibility for Jibril assassination

By Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz Correspondent and agencies

	Jihad Jibril, who was killed in a car-bomb explosion in Beirut Monday. (Photo: AP)

A hitherto unkown group, the Lebanese Nationalists Movement, has taken responsiblity for the assassination of Jihad Jibril in Beirut on Monday. Jihad Jibril was the son of Ahmed Jibril, general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

In a statement sent to the press, the group claimed that it had killed Jibril because of the fact that PFLP-GC was operating on Lebanese ground at the behest of Syria.

However, earlier in the day, Ahmed Jibril said that Israeli intelligence was behind a car bomb that killed his son, Jihad, in Beirut. An aide to Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer denied "any connection" to the attack.

"The Mossad managed to kill Jihad this time," Jibril told reporters, referring to Israeli intelligence. "The Israeli enemy knows he was a serious field commander. He became a martyr like so many who have fallen defending the Palestinian cause."

"We see the clear fingerprints of the Zionists in this assassination which... signals a return to renewed Zionist attempts to shake the security of Lebanon," a statement from Lebanon's Syrian-backed Hizbollah guerrilla organisation said.

"Israel is behind any bomb attack on any Lebanese, Arab or
Palestinian," Abu Rushdi, a local PFLP-GC official told Reuters shortly after the blast. "Our response is to continue our struggle against Israel."

Jerusalem denies involvement
In Jerusalem, Yarden Vatikay, an aide to Ben-Eliezer said, "Israel had no connection to [the car bomb]," adding that the defense minister had also denied any link. "As usual, they blame Israel."

Al-Manar, the television station of the Hezbollah guerrilla group which has close links to Jibril's PFLP-GC, said Jibril's son, 40-year-old Jihad, died in the explosion. It said it had received the confirmation from Jibril's headquarters in Damascus, Syria.

A senior PFLP-GC commander suspected of involvement in the assassination was arrested in Beirut, the Al-Jazeera television station reported Monday afternoon. In addition, Lebanese police said that they had arrested three suspects.

Contacted by The Associated Press, Ahmed Jibril's PFLP-GC headquarters in Damascus would not immediately discuss what had happened, but several members privately confirmed Jihad Jibril had been killed.

When asked who was responsible for the assassination, Talal Naji, an aide to Ahmed Jibril, said only: "Israel alone." Another aide pledged to retaliate.

Jihad Jibril was head of military operations for the guerrilla group established by his father in 1968. His mother, Um Jihad, reached by telephone in her Damascus home was weeping and, asked if it was true, said "We are not sure yet."

The blast occurred at midday on a street off the busy shopping area of Corniche Mazraa. Lebanese police officials said the explosion was caused by a bomb placed under the driver's seat of the Peugeot sedan.

Jibril's PFLP-GC is one of the radical Palestinian groups opposed to the peace process, and has close ties to the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon.

Once famed for its guerrilla operations, it has been largely on the sidelines of the Palestinian uprising against Israel that erupted in 2000, but had claimed responsibility for a shipment of weapons aboard the ship Santorini Israel intercepted en route to the West Bank in May of last year.

[Bush2000]

Live by the sword, die by the sword...

[null and void]

It was a Peugeot sedan, don't feel too bad.

You had one too?

[Ronin]

The PFLP took responsiblity for the homicide bombing of three days ago. Now the son of one of their leaders gets blowed-up real good.

Sounds like Mossad is playing hard ball here. They are letting the PFLP and the rest of the homicide-bomb jocks know that the price they will pay for a "successful" bombing will be VERY personal.

About time. They should have adopted this policy long ago.

[sakic]

I rather take my chances of being wrongfully convicted in a fair trail, then permitting perps to run free because there is a 1 in 1000 chance they might be innocent.

Who said anything about letting people run free? Lifetime sentences would prevent wrongful executions and perps running free.

[Bobalu]

Pale Destroyers

oooooo... I like the sound of that! :-)

[eclectic]

What a nice face! ;-)

[Cinnamon Girl]

answer: They'll get you ever time. question: Who is the Mossad?

The Mossad managed to kill Jihad this time," Jibril told reporters. "The Israeli enemy knows he was a serious field commander. He became a martyr like so many who have fallen defending the Palestinian cause." He said his son had been targeted four times in the past by the Mossad. "This time they succeeded," he said.

Beirut police said a two-kilogram bomb of TNT had been placed under the driver's seat. The seat was found dozens of meters away from the twisted wreck.

[rockfish59]

It's white rear door had turned red from the victims blood and flesh was scattered for a few meters around the car!

Sounds like Museum of Modern Art material to me!
Call it: Jihadart!

[Tuco-bad]

Who said anything about letting people run free? Lifetime sentences would prevent wrongful executions and perps running free.

So you advocate keeping a person, who might be innocent, in jail their entire life?

[sakic]

Why the need to keep twisting my words? I'll try and make it clear for you.

I think it's better to be wrongly imprisoned where you have a chance of being exonerated at a later date than being wrongly executed. Do you disagree?