Salah Khalaf

Salah Khalaf
صلاح خلف
Personal details
Born(1933-08-31)31 August 1933
Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine
Died14 January 1991(1991-01-14) (aged 57)
Carthage, Tunisia
Manner of deathAssassination
Resting placeAmman, Jordan
CitizenshipPalestine
Political partyFatah
Children6
Alma materAl Azhar University
Ain Shams University
OccupationPolitician

Salah Mesbah Khalaf (Arabic: صلاح مصباح خلف, romanized: Ṣalāḥ Maṣbāḥ Ḵalaf), also known as Abu Iyad (Arabic: أبو إياد, romanized: ʾAbū ʾIyād) (31 August 1933 – 14 January 1991), was a Palestinian militant and the deputy chief and head of intelligence for the Palestine Liberation Organization. He was the second most senior official of Fatah after Yasser Arafat.

The United States and Israel believed him to have been a founder of the Black September Organization.

Suspected of having helped the CIA to break up Abu Nidal's so-called "Abu Nidal Organization", Khalaf was assassinated by a member of that organization in 1991. Palestinians, and many onlookers, generally believe Abu Nidal was responsible for his death. Some believe the order came from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.