Abu Nidal Organization

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Abu Nidal Organization
منظمة أبو نضال
Also known as	Fatah – Revolutionary Council
Founding leader	Abu Nidal
Dates of operation	1974–2002
Split from	Fatah
Ideology	Palestinian nationalism Anti-Zionism Pan-Arabism[1] Secularism[2]
Political position	Left-wing[3]
Notable attacks	List of attacks attributed to Abu Nidal
Status	Defunct
Allies	Iraq  Syria Libya  Egypt
Opponents	Israel PLO
Designated as a terrorist group by	Israel  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  EU  Japan

The Abu Nidal Organization (ANO; Arabic: منظمة أبو نضال Munaẓẓamat Abu Nidal), officially Fatah – Revolutionary Council (فتح – المجلس الثوري Fatah al-Majles al-Thawry), was a Palestinian militant group founded by Abu Nidal in 1974. It broke away from Fatah, a faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization, following the emergence of a rift between Abu Nidal and Yasser Arafat. The ANO was designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States,^[4] the United Kingdom,^[1] Canada,^[5] the European Union^[6] and Japan.^[7] However, a number of Arab countries supported the group's activities; it was backed by Iraq from 1974 to 1983, by Syria from 1983 to 1987, and by Libya from 1987 to 1997. It briefly cooperated with Egypt from 1997 to 1998, but ultimately returned to Iraq in December 1998, where it continued to have the state's backing until Abu Nidal's death in August 2002.^[8]

In practice, the ANO was leftist and secularist, as well as anti-Zionist and anti-Western.^[9] In theory, it was not particularly associated with any specific ideology—or at least no such foundation was declared.^[10][11] It was mostly linked with the pursuit of Abu Nidal's personal agendas.^[12] The ANO was established to carry on an armed struggle in pursuit of pan-Arabism and the destruction of Israel.^[1] Like other Palestinian militant groups, the ANO carried out worldwide hijackings, assassinations, kidnappings of diplomats, and attacks on synagogues. It was responsible for 90 terrorist attacks between 1974 and 1992. In 2002, Abu Nidal died under disputed circumstances in Baghdad, with Palestinian sources claiming that he was assassinated on the orders of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.^[13]