The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that Israel has succeeded in wiping out the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) a communist terrorist group responsible for hundreds of attacks against unarmed civilians.

Earlier this week the IDF arrested another two of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's top leaders in the West Bank.

The two were caught just as the PFLP, the second largest faction in the PLO after Fatah, was preparing to mark the first anniversary of the killing of its secretary-general, Abu Ali Mustafa.

With their arrest, Israel has effectively succeeded in eliminating the entire political and military branches of the hard-line Marxist group. [...]

The PFLP, which is strongly opposed to the Oslo Accords, has vowed to pursue the fight against Israel and has been very critical of Arafat's peace strategy. A strong PFLP could only pose a bigger threat to Arafat.

Now that we've eliminated the threat from the PFLP, let's move on to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and then to Hamas and Al-Aqsa Brigade, Arafat's terrorist group (see the Palestine page for details).

I copy below the full article.

PFLP effectively wiped out
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, Aug. 29, 2002
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pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1029920626727

Earlier this week the IDF arrested another two of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's top leaders in the West Bank.

The two are Bashir Khairi a senior member of the group's politburo, and Ali Jaradat, the official spokesperson of the PFLP.

The two were caught just as the PFLP, the second largest faction in the PLO after Fatah, was preparing to mark the first anniversary of the killing of its secretary-general, Abu Ali Mustafa.

With their arrest, Israel has effectively succeeded in eliminating the entire political and military branches of the hard-line Marxist group.

Abu Ali Mustafa was killed when an IAF helicopter gunship fired two missiles at his office in the PFLP headquarters in Ramallah.

The PFLP retaliated by killing tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi in a Jerusalem hotel last October. Ze'evi's killing marked the beginning of the end of the PFLP in the West Bank.

Since then, the PFLP, which is reported to have several thousands followers in the West Bank, especially in Ramallah and Bethlehem, has been a constant target of IDF operations.

Mustafa's successor, Ahmed Sa'adat, who is accused by Israel of ordering Ze'evi's assassination, is now being held in a Palestinian jail in Jericho under US and British supervision.

Four PFLP activists who took an active role in the assassination are also behind bars in the Jericho facility, including the head of the group's armed wing.

Senior members of the group who were hiding in the village of Bet Rima, northwest of Ramallah, were caught by the IDF in May.

Two months ago another top PFLP operative, Abdel Rahman Maluh, was also taken into custody. Maluh, who became the de facto PFLP leader following the incarceration of Sa'adat, is now being held in the Megiddo detention center.

He is accused of membership in a terrorist organization and is expected to go on trial soon.

In Kalkilya, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Jenin, almost all the PFLP's representatives and top officials have either been killed or arrested by the IDF over the past few months.

The group's Kalkilya commander, who was killed by the IDF three months ago, is believed to have been planning to blow up a skyscraper in Tel Aviv.

Earlier this month the PFLP suffered yet another blow when an undercover IDF unit killed Sa'adat s younger brother, Muhammad, as he stepped outside his parent's home in al Bireh.

PFLP activists said the 23-year-old brother was not a member of the group's armed wing. They believe he was killed by Israel to avenge Ze'evi.

In the Gaza Strip, a stronghold of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the story is different. The few PFLP cadres operating there remain unharmed.

PFLP leaders in the area maintain fine relations with the Palestinian Authority and enjoy freedom of movement and action. The de facto PFLP leaders in the Gaza Strip are Salah Zeidan and Jamil Majdalawi, frequent interviewees on Arab satellite television networks.

A PA official said on Thursday that the Israeli crackdown on the PFLP has virtually destroyed the organization. "Their political and military leadership has been completely wiped out," said the official. "In a way, you can say that Sharon has won the war against the PFLP."

By weakening the PFLP and destroying its political and military infrastructure, Israel is in fact strengthening Yasser Arafat's rival Fatah group.

The PFLP, which is strongly opposed to the Oslo Accords, has vowed to pursue the fight against Israel and has been very critical of Arafat's peace strategy. A strong PFLP could only pose a bigger threat to Arafat.

Since May, the PFLP has been pressuring Arafat to release Sa'adat from prison. At several rallies held yesterday throughout the West Bank, PFLP followers strongly condemned Arafat for continuing to hold their leader in jail.

Arafat has repeatedly promised to solve the problem, but has failed to free the man. His excuse now is that Israel will try to kill Sa'adat once he walks out of the prison.

The official said years might pass before the PFLP regains its power in the West Bank. But he warned that there were still some "low-level" individuals from the group who would try to carry out a major terrorist attack to drive home the point that the PFLP is till capable of operating, despite the severe blows it has suffered until now.

Posted by David Melle
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