Arabs given heavy terms

Press, 7 March 1983, Page 9

Arabs given heavy terms

NZPA-Reuter London The chief of an Arab assassination squad has been jailed for 35 years for trying to kill Irael’s ambassador in London in a shooting which helped spark off the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June. A young gunman who seriously wounded the ambassador in the head, and a third member of the group, were each imprisoned for 30 years. The Ambassador, Shlomo Argov, whom they shot outside a London hotel, is now in a Jerusalem hospital, almost totally paralysed and lucid only for brief periods. Judge William Mars-Jones told the three attackers: “We will not tolerate gangs of terrorists operating in this country, or their campaigns of violence.”

The leader was an Iraqi merchant, Nauoff Rosan, -aged 36. The others were Jordanian students, Hassein Said, aged 23, who was wounded and captured at the scene of the shooting, and Marwan Banna, aged 20.

The prosecution said that they belonged to a Bagdadbased group headed by Sabri Banna, who is known as Abu Nidal, and has broken with the Palestine Liberation Organisation. The police told the Court that the attack on Mr Argov was to have started a campaign of assassinations of Jews and Arabs in Britain. Weapons and a list of organisations and names, including the Jordanian Ambassador, had been found at the men’s homes, the police said. The Court heard that a letter found in Rosan’s room had emphasised the group’s oposition to Arabs supporting the P.L.O. and gave instructions to collect information so that the United Arab Emirates’ targets could be

attacked. Said shot Mr Argov, a friend of (the Israeli Prime Minister) Menachem Begin, as he left a diplomatic banquet at the exclusive Dorchester Hotel. The ambassador’s police bodyguard, Constable Colin Simpson, chased Said along dim backstreets and shot him when he refused to halt. A guard at a nearby hotel took the number of the group’s getaway car, leading the police to Rosan and Banna. Said was cleared of another charge of attempting to murder Detective Constable Simpson and of using his gun to resist arrest. The others were convicted' of various 'weapon offences. The jury deliberated for three days before reaching unanimous verdicts.