By Hanna Kawas. A letter to the Tunisian Ambassador to Canada regarding the Murder of Palestinian Leader Abu Jihad.
Tunisian Ambassador to Canada
Mouldi Sakri
Dear Ambassador:
We in the Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver, would like to request that your government charge the former president of Tunisia Zine El Abidin Ben Ali, his police and intelligence officers, with complicity in the murder of the beloved Palestinian leader Khalil El Wazir (Abu Jihad) in Tunis by an Israeli death squad on April 16, 1988. This is in addition to the long list of crimes he and his regime have committed against the Tunisian People.
David Yallop, the British investigative journalist, in his book “To the Ends of the Earth”, exposed the complicity of the U.S. and Tunisian governments in the murder of Abu Jihad.
Waiting to hear from you,
Sincerely Yours
Hanna Kawas
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association
Following are some quotes from Yallop’s book (pages 224-226).
“When the Washington Post headlined its front page story on Jihad’s death with ‘High Backing Seen for Assassination’, it was absolutely correct but in view of the fact that it merely detailed the Israeli Cabinet decision to unleash its forces against Jihad, the Post got only part of the story.
The ‘High Backing’ also included the President of Tunis, Ben Ali, and the United States government, specifically the State Department.” Page 224
“On the night of April 15th, the American Cemetery close to the embassy was ablaze with light and activity. Normally in total darkness with a maximum of two Military Police patrolling, on this particular evening it was manned by thirty Military Police and a marine back-up. As part of the joint American/Israeli operation it had been agreed that the cemetery would serve as a fall-back position if the Israeli unit ran into heavy opposition.” Page 225
“Despite the fact that a neighbour to Jihad phoned the police at least twice, first to report the intruders, second to report hearing and seeing gun-fire in Jihad’s garden, the Tunisian police declined to send a car… By a curious coincidence on that evening virtually all members of the Tunisian police force had been taking part in a large exercise between nine in the evening and midnight. At midnight they had all been stood down and appear to have been on a mass collective meal break. The killing of Jihad took place at one-thirty in the morning. The Israeli unit were wearing Tunisian National Guard uniforms.” Pages 225-226
“The assassination of Jihad was not quite the flawless operation that the myth gives one to expect from the Israelis. The telephone jamming had failed and without the Tunisian complicity so would have the entire operation.”
“In the journey back to the Tunisian beach … one of the retreating units took a wrong turning and ripped the bottom out of the vehicle. Again without Tunisian connivance, the entire unit could so easily have been caught.” Page 226
Yallop concludes by saying “This, based on my research, is how the democratic nations of Israel and the United States, aided and abetted by Tunisia, disposed of the problem of Abu Jihad.” Page 226