The Palestinian cartoonist and new clue in hunt for his London killer 30 years on
‘It’s time we had an end to all this’
DETECTIVES hunting the killer of a Palestinian cartoonist in London 30 years ago could be on the brink of a breakthrough.
Naji Al-Ali was shot at point-blank range in the back of the neck as he walked to his Knightsbridge office.
The 51-year-old had been in fear for his life after lampooning Yasser Arafat over a secret girlfriend weeks earlier.
In the hunt for his killer, detectives unravelled an international web of spies and double agents before stumbling across an arms dump.
When they found Israeli security service Mossad knew the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) had been plotting the murder, a political spat broke out. Then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher expelled Israeli diplomats and shut the country’s London spy base. Yesterday the Metropolitan Police appealed for help exactly three decades after Mr Al-Ali, a father of five, succumbed to his injuries.
Senior detectives published an artist’s impression of how the suspected hit squad gunman could look today.
And they revealed the murder weapon, a Russian-made 7.62 Tokarev pistol, was found dumped on an estate two years after the killing.
The victim’s family said those responsible believed they had carried out the ‘perfect crime’, but added: ‘It’s time we had an end to this.’
Mr Al-Ali was shot as he walked to the offices of Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas on July 22, 1987.
Witnesses said he was followed by the gunman, a Middle Eastern man in his mid-20s, for up to 40 seconds. The man, holding a black handgun, ran away while a suspected getaway driver, in his 50s, was seen concealing another weapon as he got into a silver lefthand-drive Mercedes nearby.
Mr Al-Ali – left in a coma – was kept under armed guard in hospital until his death on August 29. The cartoonist, who had received more than 100 death threats, was a fierce critic of the PLO, the Israeli state and Iran.
His cartoons featured a barefoot ten-year-old refugee child, known as Handala, whom he said symbolised the repression of the Palestinian people.
Investigators found Arafat’s henchman Aber Rahman Mustapha had been living in Essex under a false identity before slipping out of the country in the wake of the shooting.
As details of the hit were finalised, he was trailed by Mossad agents who did not warn British authorities of the plot.
Police found a Palestinian research assistant who knew of the killing was a double agent, working for the PLO while feeding intelligence to Israel. At his Hull home, officers found weapons including seven AK-47 assault rifles, 66lb of explosives, grenades and ammunition. The 28-year-old was convicted of arms and explosives charges and jailed for 15 years.
Mr Al-Ali’s family said yesterday he had been killed because of his passion for art, politics and the Palestinian people. Son Osama said: ‘It is very important those responsible are brought to justice.’ Commander Dean Haydon, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said ‘there are people somewhere’ who could bring the killers to justice.