This appendix briefly describes several of the major groups that are treated at greater length in the main portion of this book. It draws heavily on the US State Department's Patterns of Global Terrorism reports and the MIPT Knowledge Base, among other sources. The appendix is not meant to present original research or to offer more than the barest description of the groups in question. As the point of the Appendix is to offer concise overviews of the various groups, I have refrained from discussing some of the more contentious issues with regard to particular dates, activities, and so on that would be of concern to specialists but not to a general audience.

Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)

DESCRIPTION

• Palestinian nationalist group split from the PLO in 1974. Led by Sabri al-Banna until 2002, the group operates internationally.

• The Iraqi government claimed that Abu Nidal committed suicide in August 2002. Some believe that Saddam Hussein ordered Abu Nidal assassinated. The ANO has stated that the group is still in operation and will appoint a new leader.

GOALS

Historical goal of the total liberation of Palestine through armed struggle.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

• The group has conducted attacks in twenty countries since 1974 and targeted the US, England, France, Israel, the PLO, and various Arab countries.

• As of October 2004, the group is reportedly responsible for 77 attacks which inflicted 565 casualties and killed 188 persons.

GROUP SIZE

A few hundred individuals.

STATE SPONSORSHIP

Historical aid from Iraq, Syria, and Libya.