Middle East Information Resource
Political Entities - The Palestine Liberation Front
The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) is a group that broke away from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in mid-1970`s. Since 1983 it allegedly split into three factions hostile to one another-one, radically anti- Ararat, headed by Tal`at Ya`qub, which operated in Lebanon until Ya`qub`s death in 1988. The second, pro-Syrian faction is led by Abd Al-Fattah Ghanem and located in Damascus. The third, and main faction is pro-Ararat, led by Muhammad Abbas (Abu al-Abbas).
The Abu Abbas-led faction is known for aerial attacks against Israel. Abbas`s group also was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the cruise ship Achille Lauro and the murder of US citizen Leon Klinghoffer. A warrant for Abu Abbas`s arrest is outstanding in Italy. The PLO faction was based in Tunisia until the Achille Lauro attack; it is now based in Iraq. The PLF has in recent times received support mainly from Iraq; in the past it has also received support from Libya.