Fatah in Lebanon threatens reprisals against US,
Israel
Evoking memory of Black September, faction chief warns of total mobilization
Nicholas Blanford
Daily Star staff
The chief of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction in Lebanon on Friday threatened to
launch worldwide attacks against American and Israeli interests if the Palestinian leader
is harmed by Israel.
Speaking in a heavily guarded office in the Rashidieh refugee camp, Brigadier Sultan
Abul-Aynayn said there were no longer any red lines constraining the Palestinians and
hinted that fighters could in a “short time” launch attacks across the
Lebanon-Israel border.
“If one hair on the head of Arafat is harmed, the US had better protect its interests
around the world. I mean what I am saying. The US should protect itself if anything
happens to Arafat,” he said. “We are not like Osama bin Laden, but we have our
own style of response.”
He added that the Palestinian diaspora could be mobilized to launch attacks against
“Zionist and US interests.”
“Our reach is long, and with this continuous struggle we have the right to
respond.”
Abul-Aynayn urged Washington to intervene immediately in the Israeli assault on
Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah, warning that failure to do so would force the
Palestinians to resort to the tactics of Black September.
“The world forced us once before to create an organization called Black
September,” Abul-Aynayn said. “We hope the world won’t force us to use the
tactics of Black September once again.”
The Black September group, comprising several factions, was responsible for a number of
international terror attacks in the early 1970s, including the 1972 kidnapping and killing
of Israeli athletes in Munich.
“Only the US can stop this massacre. One phone call is all it takes. If they
don’t do it then they have to bear the consequences.”
Edgy Fatah fighters carrying assault rifles gathered at the entrance to Abul-Aynayn’s
office. Among the pictures on the wall of his tiny smoke-filled office was one of a
youthful Arafat sporting sunglasses.
Abul-Aynayn said he had been in touch with Arafat during the day. Asked if Arafat had
relayed any instructions, the Fatah chief shook his head.
“Even if Arafat tells us to stay calm and watch television we will not do it. We
cannot,” he said.
A security source in south Lebanon said the developments in the West Bank could have
serious ramifications along the tense Lebanon-Israel border.
“This is a very dangerous time,” the source said.
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