PLO Militia Chief Killed in Ambush
Two gunmen killed the new commander of the PLO’s Fatah militia in Sidon and wounded three of his bodyguards Tuesday. It was the second assassination of a ranking PLO official in a month.
No group claimed responsibility for the slaying of Col. Anwar Madi, who was picked three weeks ago by Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat to head the militia at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, the largest of 13 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
Many recent attacks on PLO officials have involved Fatah, the PLO’s mainstream faction, and a breakaway group headed by Palestinian terrorist leader Abu Nidal.
A police spokesman said Madi’s BMW sedan was attacked as it approached the main police station in Sidon.
“One assailant raked Madi with 12 submachine-gun bullets and the other fired the final bullet below Madi’s right ear from a pistol,” said a police spokesman.
Madi, 45, twice married with six children, was pronounced dead on arrival at Hammoud Hospital in this city 25 miles south of Beirut.
His death came three weeks after Atef Bseiso, the PLO’s acting security and intelligence chief, was killed by two gunmen while in Paris for consultations with French intelligence officials.
The PLO blamed Israeli agents for Bseiso’s assassination June 8. Israel denied involvement, and French police said they also were investigating whether he was killed by Abu Nidal supporters.
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