WhatFinger


Diary of a Vengeance Foretold

The European section of the PFLP-GC



Part 63 – SEPTEMBER 3, 1988 'I only gave Abu Elias name once… to Khreesat. And therefore, only Khreesat could have revealed his name.' - Haffez Dalkamoni to Somaia Abassi, Prison visit, July 1989 Beside Jibril himself, two other members of the PFLP-GC are known to have participated with Iranian officials in the discussions regarding the revenge for the USS Vincennes 'incident': Major Tunayb and Haffez Kassem Dalkamoni.

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Dalkamoni was born on Sept. 28, 1945 in Damascus according to his BKA files. But others have reported that in was born in Palestine. Dalkamoni developed since his childhood a deep hatred for the State of Israel.   Dalkamoni was arrested by an Israeli security force before he reached his tenth anniversary. He has been a member of the PFLP-GC since its creation in Oct. 1968.   In 1969, he lost his lower right leg during a raid in Northern Israel. Ten years later, Dalkamoni was released from jail in a prisoners exchange arranged by Jibril.   In August 1987, Dalkamoni organized the bombing of an American troop train in Hedemunde, Germany. In January 1988, Dalkamoni moved to the city of Neuss, near Dusseldorf where he stayed in an apartment at 16 Isarstrasse. The apartment was rented by Hashem Abassi, his brother in law. Dalkamoni was married to Hannah, the sister of Somaia Abassi.    In Sept 1988, after finalization of the deal between Jibril and top Iranian officials, Dalkamoni travelled to Krusevac, Yugoslavia, where the PFLP_GC was operating a safe house. His host was Mobdi Goben, aka Abu Fuad, a long time member of the PFLP-GC. The house was packed with weapons, explosives such as Semtex-H and detonators, including barometric ones.   The MOSSAD has an extensive background file on Dalkamoni. According to their reports which were shared with Western Intelligence, Jibril appointed Dalkamoni as the leader of the PFLP-GC at the time of his move to Neuss.   Known by more than a dozen names, Dalkamoni was using several false passports, including a special one issued by the Syrian Foreign Ministry. Ordinary ones are issued by the Interior Ministry. Thus, there can be little doubt that Damascus was actively supporting Palestinian terrorist in Europe during 87 and 88.     In Germany, Dalkamoni was collaborating closely with Abdel Fattah Ghadanfar, a Palestinian born on Dec. 14 1949 in Irbid, Jordan. Ghadanfar resided in Damascus until he was instructed by Jibril to move to West Germany, where he lived in a safe house located at 28 Sandweg in Frankfurt. Ghadanfar used  at least nine alias, one of them being Nabil Massoud.   On Feb. 2 1988, the MOSSAD warned the BKA that the PFLP-GC was about to bomb a train in Germany. On April 26, Dalkamoni and Ghadanfar bombed another US train, once more in Hedemunde, Germany. Why the warning was ignored has never been explained. Unfortunately, this will not be the last of the MOSSAD warnings to be ignored by the BKA and US intelligence.   During October 1988, the BKA ran a round-the-clock surveillance operation to track closely the moves and communications of sixteen members of the PFLP-GC in Germany. On Oct 26, they arrested Dalkamoni, Ghadanfar and fourteen other suspects.   All but Dalkamoni, Ghadanfar were released in a matter of days, including the senior bomb maker of the group Marwan Abdel Khreesat. The release of Khreesat is certainly puzzling considering that that an international arrest warrant had been issued against him for his role in the 1972 bombing of an El Al plane bound for Tel Aviv from Rome.   An Italian court had sentenced Khreesat in abstencia to 18 years of jail. Khreesat left the PFLP-GC in 1973 but reintegrated the organization in 1986. In September 1988, Jibril also sent him to the Krusevac safe house where he met both Goben and Dalkamoni. Why was he allowed to return to Syria instead of being turned to Italian law authority?   In 1991, Ghadanfar and Dalkamoni were sentenced to 12 and 15 years on terrorism charges for their role in the bombing of the US trains in Germany. Neither man ever served his full sentence. Ghadanfar was released on November 9, 1994. Dalkamoni was released on 27 June, 1995. Both men were deported to Syria. In both cases, Iran had negotiated their extradition to Syria in complete secrecy.   'We are horrified that the German authorities have released this man [Ghadanfar] before the investigating authorities have had a proper opportunity to interview him,' said Dr. Jim Swire, spokesman for the relatives of the Lockerbie victims.   According to the Scotsman, 'just days after the downing of Iran Flight 665, an Iranian intelligence officer was flown to Lebanon to meet two officials from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC), Muhammad Hafiz Dalkamoni and a man known to the CIA as Nabil.' Chances are pretty good that the man known as Nabil was indeed Ghadanfar.   Two day after the bombing of Pan Am 103, communication intercepts indicate that Tehran ordered their Ambassador in Beirut to pay the Jibril Organization for the successful operation. The transfer of the money is recorded and Dalkamoni was in possession of the Paris bank account number when he was arrested.  

Back to the Present

  Among the various issues raised by R. Marquise regarding a post on Pr Black website, the following one would appear to be not entirely correct. (See Part 55 -- August 26, 1988, Letter from Marquise to Pr Black, point 2)   'You said the CIA and FBI took control of the crash site on the first night after the crash. Clearly you have no understanding of how our bureaucracies worked, as it would have been impossible to have done so as the crash happened at just after 7pm. This allegation was made many times and NO ONE was ever able to substantiate those allegations – EVER,' Marquise wrote.   In the third day of the Lockerbie trial at Camp Zeist, Chief Inspector Alexander McLean admitted that CIA agents had been involved in the recovery of items on the crime scene.   Q. And I infer from your answer that you are aware that items were being recovered from the site by members of the Central Intelligence agency.   A. I understand at one point there may have been, sir, yes. It was a necessity for a liaison officer such myself to be appointed, to ensure that the procedures, as far as the production in the criminal inquiry, were carried out to this extent.   Q. It would be unusual, in the course of most criminal inquiries, to find members of a foreign intelligence agency recovering evidence at the site, would it not?   A. Well, yes, it would be, Sir, yes. It would not be allowed, particularly. It would be under the control of the Scottish police.    Q. Do I take it this was not something that you had encountered in the past?   A. I had not personally encountered this.   According to Emerson and Duffy, within hours of the crash, Oliver Revell, the head of FBI Counter-Terrorism, dispatched SAA Thomas Thurman to Lockerbie.   Moreover, Inspector George Stobbbs, of the local police force, stated that an FBI agent had set up a desk at the Emergency Response Center, the Lockerbie Academy, around midnight.   During the afternoon of Dec 22, a local television crew filmed the arrival of a large number of plain-clothed Americans agents bringing a single coffin to the crime scene. [The reader is reminded that a body, coded DCF12 by Dr Fieldhouse, mysteriously disappeared from the scene.]  


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Dr. Ludwig de Braeckeleer -- Bio and Archives

Ludwig De Braeckeleer has a Ph.D. in nuclear sciences. Ludwig teaches physics and international humanitarian law. He blogs on “The GaiaPost.”

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