Assassination
It is still not known who opened fire on Naji al-Ali outside the London office of Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas on the 22 July 1987, hitting him in the right temple. Naji al-Ali remained unconscious until his death on 29 August 1987. Although his will requested that he be buried in Ain al-Hilweh beside his father, this proved impossible to arrange and he was buried in Brookwood Islamic Cemetery outside London. British police arrested Ismail Sowan, a 28-year-old Jerusalem-born Palestinian researcher at Hull University, and found a cache of weapons in his apartment that they said were intended for terrorist attacks around Europe; he was only charged with possession of weapons and explosives. Initially, police said Sawan was a member of the PLO, though that organisation denied any involvement.
Sawan later confessed that he worked for both the PLO and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. A second suspect arrested by Scotland Yard also said he was a double agent. It was later revealed that Mossad had two double agents working in London-based PLO hit teams and had advance knowledge of the killing. By refusing to pass on the relevant information to their British counterparts, Mossad earned the displeasure of Britain, which retaliated by expelling three Israeli diplomats, one of whom was the embassy attache identified as the handler for the two agents. A furious Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister, closed Mossad’s London base in Palace Green, Kensington.
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