NCJ Number
130649
Journal
Terrorism Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (May-June 1990) Pages: 237-241
Date Published
1990
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Interviews were conducted with 26 Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims, all members of Amal or Hizbollah who had been involved in the planning or execution of terrorist operations, and all of whom had been trained by the now-defunct K-17 team, a special operations group of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) faction Fatah.
Abstract
The data collected were used to construct an operational profile of Shi'ite religious terrorists in terms of hostage taking, assassinations, suicide, media, and modes of operation. The interviewees prioritized their hostage targets, naming 36 categories beginning with wounded individuals, children, and women, and ending with intelligence officers and diplomats, preferably American, Israeli, German, or Saudi. The majority of interviewees expressed their reluctance to kill or torture hostages in most categories, and their willingness to die during any terrorist operation. All of them were reluctant to commit assassinations, except against the diplomats and intelligence agents mentioned above, but all were willing to carry out suicide missions. None of the interviewees was concerned about negative press coverage or international opinion. All were willing to conduct an airplane hijacking and all were expert in solid, liquid, and plastic explosives. 4 notes (Author abstract modified)