New lines of inquiry sought in case of murdered Palestinian cartoonist

A 30-year-old murder mystery case has been reopened as London police appeal for witnesses to the killing of a Palestinian cartoonist who was gunned down in London in 1987 to come forward.

The case of Naji Al Ali, who was 51 and a father of five, has been relaunched by the London force, who are looking for information about the gunman and another man who were seen fleeing in a Mercedes-Benz after the shooting.

A controversial figure, Al Ali’s cartoons depicted the plight of the Palestinian people through a character known as Handala, a 10-year-old refugee child.

Prior to the attack, Al Ali received a large number of death threats and his family said that he was murdered for his “passion for art, politics and the Palestinian people”.

The political cartoonist was a marked man at the time of the shooting owing to his criticisms of Arab political leaders, the Israeli state and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Al Ali was shot in the back of the neck on July 22, 1987 as he walked to the offices of Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas in Knightsbridge, London.

Witnesses said the killer, who they said appeared to be Middle Eastern and in his 20s, had been following Al Ali for about 40 seconds before he shot him.

The gun used was a Russian-made 7.62 Tokarev pistol, which was found in Paddington two years after the murder.

A witness reported seeing another man getting into the driver’s seat of a silver-grey, lefthand-drive Mercedes after the incident. Witnesses said that man was in his 50s and also of Middle Eastern appearance.

Cmdr Dean Haydon, head of the police counter-terrorism unit, said: “We believe the gunman may have arranged to meet the man seen driving the Mercedes after the murder. We believe this driver was seen hiding the weapon in his coat.”

Al Ali remained in a coma for a little more than a month but died in hospital on August 29.

At the time of the attack, commentators suggested he was killed as part of a PLO campaign to silence its critics in Europe and the Middle East, but the PLO have denied this.

The murder took place during a period starting in the 1970s when London was a centre for violence linked to political troubles in the Middle East.

The notorious international terrorist, Carlos the Jackal, who was brought up in the city, tried to murder British businessman Joseph Sieff, the chairman of Marks and Spencer and vice-president of the British Zionist Federation, in 1973, and also tried to pull off a bomb attack on the Bank Hapoalim in Mayfair the following year.

Al Ali’s son Khalid said of his father: “Many people were unhappy with his cartoon: that could range from, obviously, Israel as the enemy, and Arab leaders and Arab governments, including the Palestinian leadership. But this did not stop him from actually drawing.”

Police have released an updated artist’s impression of what the suspected killer may look like today, based on one drawn at the time of the crime.

Mr Haydon said: “A lot can change in 30 years – allegiances shift and people who were not willing to speak at the time of the murder may now be prepared to come forward with crucial information.”