Saudi Arabia 1982
Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, prior to speaking at a rally in Jeddah in fall 1982. Arafat had been on the run for several months, after Israel destroyed PLO headquarters in Lebanon in retaliation for PLO raids into Israel from south Lebanon. Several hundred people attended the event, including exiled former Ugandan President Idi Amin. I was on assignment for The Washington Post and was the only reporter present. Sitting to Arafat’s right is Khalil al-Wazir, who directed the PLO’s military operations. The two rarely were seen in public together for security reasons. Six years later, Wazir, known as Abu Jihad, was assassinated by Israeli commandos in Tunisia.
Saudi Arabia 1982
Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, prior to speaking at a rally in Jeddah in fall 1982. Arafat had been on the run for several months, after Israel destroyed PLO headquarters in Lebanon in retaliation for PLO raids into Israel from south Lebanon. Several hundred people attended the event, including exiled former Ugandan President Idi Amin. I was on assignment for The Washington Post and was the only reporter present. Sitting to Arafat’s right is Khalil al-Wazir, who directed the PLO’s military operations. The two rarely were seen in public together for security reasons. Six years later, Wazir, known as Abu Jihad, was assassinated by Israeli commandos in Tunisia.