Arafat Responsible for Pair of Americans Murdered in 1973

Now why would the State Department bury evidence showing the Palestinian terrorist Yasir Arafat was deeply involved in the murder of two Americans in Sudan in 1973? What were they thinking?

THE SEIZURE OF THE SAUDI ARABIAN EMBASSY IN KHARTOUM

Summary

In the early evening hours of 1 March 1973, eight Black September Organization (BSO) terrorists seized the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum as a diplomatic reception honoring the departing United States Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) was ending. After slightly wounding the United States Ambassador and the Belgian Charge d'Affaires, the terrorists took these officials plus the United States DCM, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador and the Jordanian Charge d'Affaires hostage. In return for the freedom of the hostages, the captors demanded the release of various individuals, mostly Palestinian guerrillas, imprisoned in Jordan, Israel and the United States.

The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasir Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the head of Fatah. Fatah representatives based in Khartoum participated in the attack, using a Fatah vehicle to transport the terrorists to the Saudi Arabian Embassy.

Initially, the main objective of the attack appeared to be to secure the release of Fatah/BSO leader Muhammed Awadh (Abu Da'ud) from Jordanian captivity. Information acquired subsequently reveals that the Fatah/BSO leaders did not expect Awadh to be freed, and indicates that one of the primary goals of the operation was to strike at the United States because of its efforts to achieve a Middle East peace settlement which many Arabs believe would be inimical to Palestinian interests.

Negotiations with the BSO terrorist team were conducted primarily by the Sudanese Ministers of Interior and of Health. No effort was spared, within the capabilities of the Sudanese Government, to secure the freedom of the hostages. The terrorists extended their deadlines three times, but when they became convinced that their demands would not be met and after they reportedly had received orders from Fatah headquarters in Beirut, they killed the two United States officials and the Belgian Charge. Thirty-four hours later, upon receipt of orders from Yasir Arafat in Beirut to surrender, the terrorists released their other hostages unharmed and surrendered to Sudanese authorities.

The Khartoum operation again demonstrated the ability of the BSO to strike where least expected. The open participation of Fatah representatives in Khartoum in the attack provides further evidence of the Fatah/BSO relationship. The emergence of the United States as a primary fedayeen target indicates a serious threat of further incidents similar to that which occurred in Khartoum.

The murder of American citizens should have been sufficient to bring charges against Arafat upon his entry into the US. Instead, he was feted at the White House on numerous occasions.

The American government participated in rehabilitating Arafat's image to the point where he would get lauded by the Nobel Prize committee despite the fact that he did nothing to actually secure peace. Signing a piece of paper does not equate with peace. Taking steps to enforce and implement the terms of those documents does.

Arafat did nothing of the sort. Arafat was a terrorist to the end, utilizing the triangle offense to continue attacks against Israel via splinter groups and other Palestinian terrorist organizations.

Fatah terrorists (aka BSO) took hostage the following diplomats:

Guy Eid, Belgian Chargé d'affaires to Sudan
Sheikh Abdullah al Malhouk, Saudi Ambassador to Sudan
Wife of Sheikh Abdullah al Malhouk
Malhouk's four children
George Curtis Moore, US Deputy Chief of Mission to Sudan
Adli al Nasser, Jordanian Chargé d'affaires to Sudan
Cleo A. Noel, Jr., US Chief of Mission to Sudan

Of that group, Eid, Noel, and Moore were murdered. The terrorists involved in the attack were excused by the sympathetic Sudanese government (what a surprise). Arafat was never held to account.

All we are left with are questions why the US government would not pursue the matter further when all the evidence pointed to Arafat's direct involvment in the hostage taking and assassinations.

UPDATE:
Curt at Flopping Aces recalls a posting by Scott at Powerline that provided circumstantial evidence of Arafat's involvement in the assassinations of Eid, Noel, and Moore. At that time, the State Department laughed off the posting and claimed that there was no connection between Arafat and the deaths of those two American diplomats. Funny how that worked out when the facts are revealed to be quite different.

The Moderate Voice weighs in and wonders what the fuss is - we knew that Arafat was a terrorist and killed people. I think the difference is that Arafat went out of his way to target American diplomats, which is generally considered a big no-no in international relations and foreign policy. Arafat was not the only person who could have been turned into the Palestinian representative but one could argue it was realpolitik that the world looked to Arafat since he was the head of the biggest Palestinian terrorist group and those world leaders (the US among them) figured that if they could turn him, things would work out eventually.

We should be outraged over the way that the State Department went out of its way to rehabilitate Arafat's image despite the fact that he was behind the murders of two US diplomats. Others sharing their outrage include: Bizzyblog, Doug Ross, Hyscience, Ace, and Pamela at Atlas Shrugs.