Arab Liberation Front
Encyclopedia : A : AR : ARA : Arab Liberation Front
Arab Liberation Front (Arabic: جبهة التحريرالعربية, jabha at-tahrir al-arabia) is a minor Palestinian political movement, politically tied to the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein.
Historical background
The ALF was founded in April 1969, as a front of the Iraqi-led faction of the Ba'th Party. In June 1969 it became a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The first leader of ALF was its Secretary-General Zeid Heidar. Other leaders have included Munif al-Razzaz, Abd al-Wahhab al-Kayyali and Abd al-Rahim Ahmad. Today the Secretary-General is Rakad Salem (Abu Mahmoud), who is held in Israeli jail. ALF has a seat on the PLO Executive Committee, held by Mahmoud Ismael.
Ideology and relations to PLO
The ALF has always followed Iraqi government policy on all matters. In line with the Pan-Arab ideology of the Ba'th, ALF was initially opposed to "Palestinization" of the conflict, preferring to argue in terms of the wider Arab world's war with Israel, which it regarded as under the natural leadership of Iraq. During the 1970s, ALF became a member of the Rejectionist Front, initially backed by Iraq and formed by hardline Palestinian factions to counter what they perceived as the increasing moderation of the PLO. ALF later opposed the Oslo Accords, as did the Iraqi government.
Present situation
ALF was the main faction active in Iraq's small (40,000) Palestinian population, but a very minor group in all other Palestinian communities. It has maintained a small following in the refugee camps of Lebanon, and has a minuscule presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Its headquarter there is in Ramallah, on the West Bank.ALF gained some degree of importance during the al-Aqsa Intifada, as a distributor of financial contributions from the Iraqi government, to families of "martyrs", with extra grants for the families of suicide bombers.[link][link][link]
ALF published the monthly newspaper Sawt al-Jamahir (Arabic, Voice of the Masses), edited by Rakad Salem.
Militant activities
The group has not been involved in armed attacks on Israel since at least the early 1990s, and it is no longer believed to possess any significant military capabilities. It is not designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the USA, and is not on the terrorist lists of the UN or the EU.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.