El Fatah Blames Israelis for Death of Arafat's Cousin

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The El Fatah Palestinian guerrilla organization accused Israeli intelligence today of murdering its Rome representative and vowed to avenge his death and other Arabs killed by the Israelis.

The Palestine news agency in Beirut, Lebanon, quoted a Fatah statement as saying the assassination of Abdel Wael Zuaiter, 38, whom it described as one of its prominent members, was part of a Zionist terrorist campaign carried out by the Israelis against the Palestininian guerrillas in various parts of the world.

Zuaiter was identified as a second cousin of Yasir Arafat, leader of the Al Fatah, and a nephew of Akram Zuaiter, Jordan's ambassador to Lebanon. The Fatah statement said the murder was carried out by Israeli intelligence agents as part of a world-wide Israeli plan against Arab guerrillas following the murder of 11 Israelis at the Olympic games.

Rome police said Zuaiter was a Jordanian employe at the Libyan Embassy. Eight bullets were shot into Zuaiter in the courtyard of the apartment building where he had been living. Neighbors told police they had seen two men fire at him and then escape in a waiting car in which there were one or two persons. The car was found this morning a few blocks from the scene.

Police said it had been rented Sunday by a man who had shown a Canadian driver's license. Police disclosed that Zuaiter had been ideologically involved in activities on behalf of Palestinian refugees and guerrillas. He was the fifth son of a distinguished Jordanian intellectual. Two of his brothers were killed four years ago during an Israeli incursion in Lebanon.

How this transcription was made

Masthead not readable on the scan. The label on the slide read: [masthead not on clipping] — Single clipping. Below this story the page carries a separate, unrelated item, "School Chief Asks More Aid", about the Chicago Board of Education, which is not part of this record. The slide's second image is a different paper and is recorded separately. — No masthead in frame. The credit line above the story reads "From Tribune Wire Services", which names the Tribune as the publishing paper and supports Maria's label. Not the same as reading the masthead. — No printed date on the clipping. The story says Fatah accused Israeli intelligence "today" and that the getaway car was found "this morning"; Wael Zwaiter was shot in Rome on 16 October 1972, which puts this on 17 or 18 October. Maria's label of 18 October is consistent and not contradicted, but the page does not carry a date. — Printed errors kept as set: "Palestininian guerrillas" (four i's) in the second paragraph, and "employe" for employee in the Rome police paragraph. "Yasir Arafat" and "the Al Fatah" are the paper's forms. — Set over two lines in italic: "El Fatah Blames Israelis" / "for Death of Arafat's Cousin".

Cite this clipping

"El Fatah Blames Israelis for Death of Arafat's Cousin," (newspaper unidentified), 18 October 1972. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1972-049. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1972-049