The New York Times · 18 October 1972

CP-1972-036

Official of Al Fatah Shot Dead in Rome

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Transcribed from the clipping

ROME, Oct. 17—A Libyan Embassy employe, a Jordanian who is believed to have been a member of Al Fatah, the Palestinian guerrilla organization, was shot dead last night outside his suburban apartment. The 38-year-old victim, Abdel Weil Zuaiter of Nablus, Jordan, was described today by Fatah's press agency in Beirut as its representative for Italy.

It said he was a martyr and hero of the Palestinian cause, “assassinated” by Israeli secret-service operatives. A Jordanian Embassy official said Mr. Zuaiter was a nephew of Akram Zuaiter, Jordan's Ambassador in Beirut, but declined to confirm reports that he was also a second cousin of Yasir Arafat, leader of Fatah. The police said the murder had been carefully planned.

Neighbors told the police they saw two men fire and then escape in a waiting car. The car was found a few blocks from the scene. The police said it was rented Sunday by a man who showed a Canadian driver's license, on which he was named as Anthony Hutton, 47, of Toronto. The police disclosed that Mr.

Zuaiter, who officially was a translator for the Libyan Embassy, had been ideologically involved in activities on behalf of Palestinian refugees and guerrillas. Two of his brothers were killed four years ago during an Israeli incursion into Lebanon, it was said. According to the police, Mr.

Zuaiter had been a contributor to Palestina, a pro-Palestinian periodical issued here until a year ago, and organized and led meetings of Italian leftist pro-Arab and rightist anti-Jewish movements. Recently, he collected funds to build a hospital in a Palestinian guerrilla camp. In September, 1970, he was reported in Amman and was a frequent traveler to Libya. Mr.

Zuaiter was questioned in connection with the attempt by two Jordanians to blow up an Israeli airliner on Aug. 17, the police said.

A statement by the Ambassadors to Italy and the Vatican of the 18 member countries of the Arab League said that the “horrible crime recalls the actions of the Zionist bands that have written notorious pages in the history of terrorism and violence, in Palestine and elsewhere.” … ‘Zionist’ Terrorists Accused Special to The New York Times BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct.

17—Al Fatah, the major Palestinian commando organization, accused pro-Israeli terrorists today of killing the Fatah representative in Rome. “This is part of the Zionist terrorist campaign being carried out in all parts of the world by the enemy,” a Fatah statement said.

The dead man, Abdel Weil Zuaiter, was born in Nablus, now part of the West Bank of the Jordan River, which was occupied by Israel in 1967. He was “another martyr whose blood will be avenged,” the statement said.

How this transcription was made

Assembled from 2 scans: s017_1 is the Page 1 column, s017_2 is the jump on Page 14. The jump also carries a separate short dispatch, ‘Zionist’ Terrorists Accused, with its own Beirut dateline and its own “Special to The New York Times” credit; it sits in the same block and is transcribed below under sidebar, not folded into the main excerpt. — Two clippings of one article, joined into a single image for the record (s017_1.png, s017_2.png). A further passage was transcribed on 2 November 2026 so a quotation on the voices wall could be checked against this record.

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