Part 70 – SEPTEMBER 10, 1988
'Talb was not just a distinguished fighter; he was an intellectual and a highly articulate advocate of the Palestinian cause. In the silence of Abu Talb, the Scots police were to find their most formidable adversary.' - David Leppard, In the trail of terror
In November 1983, Talb and his wife, born Jamilla Mograbi, entered Sweden. Talb used a false Moroccan passport. They asked for political asylum and received it quickly.
Abu Talb was born in Port Said, Egypt in 1954. He participated in the first stages of the civil war in Lebanon. Shot at in 1976, Talb never fully recovered from his wound. Semi-crippled, he will go on with a funny way of walking.
By 1988, Talb was running an Arabic video business. The owner of the Café where he was selling the videos was a Palestinian man named Hamid Al Wani. According to Swedish Security Police (SAPO), Al Wani was the leader of the PFLP-GC for the central part of Sweden. His brother, Sadi Al Wani, cofounded the organization with Ahmed Jibril.
In the months following the USS Vincennes incident, Talb became a different person. He distanced himself from his friends and his relationship with his beautiful wife deteriorated. They would divorce in early 1989.
'Abu Talb changed a lot both in his appearance and his manner. He seemed to become very religious and his hair had been long but at this time he completely shaved his head bald,' Mahmoud Moghrabi told the police.
'Abu Talb knows about the Pan Am flight 103 that crashed in Lockerbie and I think he was worried because he knew some of these persons [members of the PFLP-GC] who had been arrested in Germany and he was frightened in case one of them would give his name. […] I think he was worried in case West German authorities would find out he had some knowledge of Pan Am 103,' Moghrabi added.
