Anis al-Naqqash ( ar, أنيس النقاش; 1951 – 22 February 2021), also known as Naccache, was a Lebanese political activist and revolutionary. He was also known for being a Lebanese guerrilla fighter.

Biography

Al-Naqqash was born into a Sunni Beiruti family but later converted to Shia Islam after having pledged allegiance to

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

following the success of the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

in February 1979. In 1968, he joined

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

Movement and had several missions in Lebanon, Palestine and Europe, then he became among the first operatives during the

1978 South Lebanon conflict The 1978 South Lebanon conflict (codenamed Operation Litani by Israel) began after Israel invaded southern Lebanon up to the Litani River in March 1978, in response to the Coastal Road massacre near Tel Aviv by Lebanon-based Palestinian mil ...

. In 1975, he was part of a six-person team led by Venezuelan guerrilla fighter

Carlos the Jackal Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal ( es, link=no, Carlos el Chacal) or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convicted of terrorist crimes, and currently serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murder ...

, which perpetrated the

OPEC siege On December 21, 1975, six militants attacked the semi-annual meeting of OPEC leaders in Vienna, Austria; the attackers took more than 60 hostages after killing an Austrian policeman, an Iraqi OPEC security officer, and a Libyan economist. Several ...

in Vienna, Austria. In 1980, Anis al-Naqqash was accused of being involved in a failed assassination attempt on the last Prime Minister of Iran under

Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...

monarchy,

Shapour Bakhtiar Shapour Bakhtiar ( fa, شاپور بختیار, ; 26 June 19146 August 1991) was an Iranian politician who served as the last Prime Minister of Iran under the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the words of historian Abbas Milani: "more than once in ...

, in a court in Paris and was sentenced to life in prison. The assassination attempt resulted in death of a police officer and a civilian. Al-Naqqash was freed on 27 July 1990, together with four accomplices, after being pardoned by President

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

Death

He died from COVID-19 at a hospital in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

on 22 February 2021, aged 70, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Syria The COVID-19 pandemic in Syria is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was confirmed to have reached Syria on 22 March 2020, whe ...

References

1951 births 2021 deaths People from Beirut Converts to Shia Islam from Sunni Islam Lebanese people imprisoned abroad Lebanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France Recipients of French presidential pardons Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria {{Lebanon-bio-stub Guerrillas Political activists