Born in 1934 and fled in 1948 from Jaffa; fought in 1948 alongside the Mufti's defence forces in Palestine; studied in Cairo in the 1950s; founder, member and Arafat's assistant of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) in Egypt (1952); Fateh founder member (1958/59); PLO's security and counter intelligence executive officer; spiritual godfather and chief of Black September Organization; principal Fateh ideologue; before being assassinated on March 14, 1991 in Tunis, PLO's third highest ranking member after Arafat and Abu Jihad.