Abu Ali Iyad وليد أحمد نمر | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Abu Ali Iyad, published by PLO in 1971 | |
| Birth name | Walid Ahmad Nimr |
| Nickname(s) | Abu Ali Iyad |
| Born | 1934 Qalqilyah, Mandatory Palestine |
| Died | July 23, 1971 (aged 36-37) Ajlun-Jerash, Jordan |
| Allegiance | Fatah/Palestine Liberation Organization |
| Service | Al-Assifa |
| Years of service | 1964–1971 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Battles / wars | |
Walid Ahmad Nimr (Arabic: وليد أحمد نمر; 1934 – July 23, 1971), better known by his nom de guerre Abu Ali Iyad (Arabic: أبو علي إياد), was a senior Palestinian field commander based in Syria and Jordan during the 1960s and early 1970s.
After a career of teaching in the West Bank, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, Abu Ali Iyad was recruited into the paramilitary group, Fatah, by Khalil al-Wazir in 1964 after graduating from an Algerian military training course. A year later, he became one of Fatah's first leaders in Syria along with al-Wazir and Yasser Arafat. During his time there, Abu Ali Iyad gained a position on the group's top political body, supervised its main guerrilla training camp in Daraa and set up a military intelligence headquarters.
As a Fatah field commander, he fought Israeli forces at the Battle of Karameh, gaining a reputation as an unyielding commander. Abu Ali Iyad was also a leading organizer and participant in guerrilla raids against Israeli localities. He was one of the last Palestinian commanders to fight the Jordanian Army in the aftermath of Black September (also known as the Jordanian Civil War). He was killed in action at the countryside around Ajlun and Jerash by Jordanian forces during the Ajlun offensive in July 1971. His partisans claimed that he was executed, and as retaliation, they assassinated Jordanian prime minister Wasfi al-Tal four months after Abu Ali Iyad's death.