Mohammed Abu Talb
Encyclopedia
Mohammed Abu Talb is an Egypt
ian-born militant
who was convicted on 21 December 1989 of a series of bombings in Copenhagen
and Amsterdam
in 1985, and was sentenced to life imprisonment
in Sweden
. He has also been investigated in connection with the 21 December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
.
In October 2009, Abu Talb was reported to have been released from jail in Södertälje
, Sweden, several weeks after Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing) was granted compassionate release from jail in Scotland
to return to Libya
.
in Egypt
. He was a soldier in the Egyptian Army
and also received training in the Soviet Union
. He joined the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) in 1970. He has asserted that he deserted from the Egyptian Army in the mid-1970s and thereafter fled to Lebanon
via Jordan
with a false passport. He joined the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
(PPSF) in 1974 and participated on its side during the early stages of the Lebanese Civil War
. There, he rose to the rank of lieutenant
, commanding a 100-member security detail. He also went to Beirut
, where he was wounded in fighting in 1976 and spent the next two years studying politics and economics at the University of Beirut.
In 1986, Abu Talb arrived in Sweden from Syria
with his wife and child on a false Moroccan
passport, under the name of Belaid Massoud Ben Hadi, and was granted political asylum there. He settled in Uppsala
and ran a store specializing in Arab foods and videotapes.
and Amsterdam
in 1985. On 22 July 1985, a bomb exploded outside the offices of Northwest Airlines
in Copenhagen, killing an Algeria
n citizen and injuring over twenty people. A second bomb exploded at the Great Synagogue
in Copenhagen, injuring seven people. In addition to these bombs, the men were convicted for bombings of the Israeli airline El Al
offices in Copenhagen and Amsterdam
, which left no injuries. Abu Talb and Marten Imandi (a Palestinian
-born Swedish citizen) were sentenced by the court to life in prison (which in Sweden generally means 20 years at most) while the other two men – the brothers Mahmoud and Moustafa al-Mougrabi (who are Abu Talb's brothers-in-law), were sentenced to six years and one year in prison respectively for their involvement in the attacks.
Abu Talb maintained his innocence and said he had ended all terrorist activities in relation to Palestine at the end of 1982.
on 21 December 1988, where 270 people were killed. He came under suspicion after Swedish investigators established that he had travelled to Malta
in October 1988, two months before the bombing. The Scottish investigators earlier found that the bomb was hidden in a radio-cassette recorder, which was placed in a suitcase and wrapped in clothing bought in Malta. In Abu Talb's apartment in Uppsala, the police also found a 1988 calendar with the date "21 December" circled. In addition, Abu Talb's wife was recorded in a wiretapped telephone call warning another unidentified Palestinian to "get rid of the clothes immediately." Abu Talb denied he was involved in the bombing and said his trip to Malta was for "business".
In a special defence at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
, defence counsel alleged that the Syria
n-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) and the lesser known PPSF were responsible for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103
. They called Abu Talb to give evidence at the trial since they alleged he was linked to both terrorist groups. Instead, Abu Talb appeared as a prosecution witness, and in his testimony in November 2000, he told the court that he was not involved in the December 1988 Lockerbie bombing. He said he had been at home babysitting in Sweden at the time of the bombing.
In June 2007, the Crown Office denied that Abu Talb had immunity and declared that he could still face prosecution for the Lockerbie bombing.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian-born militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
who was convicted on 21 December 1989 of a series of bombings in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1985, and was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. He has also been investigated in connection with the 21 December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
.
In October 2009, Abu Talb was reported to have been released from jail in Södertälje
Södertälje
Södertälje is a city and the seat of Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 86,069 inhabitants in 2010.The industrial city, about south of Stockholm, is the home to truck maker Scania AB and a top 10 pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca....
, Sweden, several weeks after Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing) was granted compassionate release from jail in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to return to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.
Background
Abu Talb was born in Port SaidPort Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He was a soldier in the Egyptian Army
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
and also received training in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He joined the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
(PLO) in 1970. He has asserted that he deserted from the Egyptian Army in the mid-1970s and thereafter fled to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
via Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
with a false passport. He joined the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front , , is a militant Palestinian organization. The group was led by Dr. Samir Ghawshah until his death in 2009...
(PPSF) in 1974 and participated on its side during the early stages of the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
. There, he rose to the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, commanding a 100-member security detail. He also went to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, where he was wounded in fighting in 1976 and spent the next two years studying politics and economics at the University of Beirut.
In 1986, Abu Talb arrived in Sweden from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
with his wife and child on a false Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
passport, under the name of Belaid Massoud Ben Hadi, and was granted political asylum there. He settled in Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
and ran a store specializing in Arab foods and videotapes.
1985 bombings
On 21 December 1989, Abu Talb and three other men were convicted by a court in Uppsala for a series of bombings in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1985. On 22 July 1985, a bomb exploded outside the offices of Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...
in Copenhagen, killing an Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n citizen and injuring over twenty people. A second bomb exploded at the Great Synagogue
Great Synagogue (Copenhagen)
The Great Synagogue is the main synagogue of the Jewish community in Copenhagen, Denmark. The synagogue is defined by its unique architecture around the Ark of the Law. During the first half of the 19th century, synagogues continued to be built in the classical tradition but there began to be a...
in Copenhagen, injuring seven people. In addition to these bombs, the men were convicted for bombings of the Israeli airline El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
offices in Copenhagen and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, which left no injuries. Abu Talb and Marten Imandi (a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
-born Swedish citizen) were sentenced by the court to life in prison (which in Sweden generally means 20 years at most) while the other two men – the brothers Mahmoud and Moustafa al-Mougrabi (who are Abu Talb's brothers-in-law), were sentenced to six years and one year in prison respectively for their involvement in the attacks.
Abu Talb maintained his innocence and said he had ended all terrorist activities in relation to Palestine at the end of 1982.
Lockerbie bombing
In May 1989, Abu Talb was arrested in connection with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
on 21 December 1988, where 270 people were killed. He came under suspicion after Swedish investigators established that he had travelled to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
in October 1988, two months before the bombing. The Scottish investigators earlier found that the bomb was hidden in a radio-cassette recorder, which was placed in a suitcase and wrapped in clothing bought in Malta. In Abu Talb's apartment in Uppsala, the police also found a 1988 calendar with the date "21 December" circled. In addition, Abu Talb's wife was recorded in a wiretapped telephone call warning another unidentified Palestinian to "get rid of the clothes immediately." Abu Talb denied he was involved in the bombing and said his trip to Malta was for "business".
In a special defence at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...
, defence counsel alleged that the Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) and the lesser known PPSF were responsible for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
. They called Abu Talb to give evidence at the trial since they alleged he was linked to both terrorist groups. Instead, Abu Talb appeared as a prosecution witness, and in his testimony in November 2000, he told the court that he was not involved in the December 1988 Lockerbie bombing. He said he had been at home babysitting in Sweden at the time of the bombing.
In June 2007, the Crown Office denied that Abu Talb had immunity and declared that he could still face prosecution for the Lockerbie bombing.