Abu Nidal Organization: Sabri Al-Banna. Heads Fatah breakaway faction. Responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in the eighties. The Abu Nidal Organization is believed to be dormant.
AK-47: Soviet-era automatic assault rifle.
Amal: A Lebanese political party and militia. It is the rival of Hizballah for control over the Lebanese Shi’a.
‘Asal, Munir Shafiq: Headed the Islamic wing of Fatah. He was a follower of Sayyid Qutub.
ASALA: Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia. A terrorist group that has attacked mainly Turkish targets.
‘Ayn Al-Dilbah: A small neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs where a large number of Hizballah terrorists lived.
‘Azzam, ‘Abdallah: A Palestinian cleric who first indoctrinated Osama bin Laden in Jihad.
Case officer: A CIA employee who recruits and runs foreign agents.
Committee of 77: A secret organization organized by Yasir Arafat to recruit Islamic fundamentalists.
DI: Directorate of Intelligence. A CIA component responsible for producing finished intelligence.
DO: Directorate of Operations. A CIA component responsible for running foreign agents.
DST: Direction de la surveillance du territoire. France’s counterpart to the FBI.
Fadlallah, Muhammad Husayn: A Lebanese Shi’a leader. Fadlallah is popularly believed to have had a hand in the hostage taking in Lebanon in the 1980s; however, this is not true.
Fatah: A Palestinian organization founded by Yasir Arafat in Kuwait in the fifties.
Force 17: A Palestinian security organization under the control of Yasir Arafat.
Al-Gama’at Al-Islamiyah: A radical offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. In 1988 it secretly established ties with Iranian intelligence.
Green Line: Confrontation line between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut.
Hamas: A Palestinian fundamentalist organization founded in 1988. It has close links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamiyah, Talal Husni: Deputy to ’Imad Mughniyah. Probably coordinated most of the IJO’s operations outside of Lebanon, including the hijacking of TWA-847.
Hammadah, Muhammad: TWA-847 hijacker. Arrested at the Frankfurt airport on January 13, 1987, carrying a highly volatile explosive, probably intended for use in attacks in France.
Hizballah: A Lebanon-based organization officially founded on February 16, 1985.
Hizballah of the Hijaz: Saudi Hizballah. Probably organized in 1991, it was funded and its members were trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Hyperbaric switch: A switch sensitive to changes in altitude. It has been used by the PFLP/GC to blow up airplanes in flight.
IJO: Islamic Jihad Organization. A cover name used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to conduct terrorist operations around the world.
IRGC: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, founded on May 5, 1979, shortly after the Islamic revolution in Iran.
KDP: Kurdish Democratic Party. A Kurdish-Iraqi political party and militia headed by Masud Barzani.
Lebanese Forces: A Lebanese Christian militia. In 1987 it secretly allied with Hizballah in Hizballah’s war against Amal.
LST-5: A satellite transceiver.
Microdot: A reverse photographic negative small enough to be buried in a piece of paper.
Mughniyah, ’Imad: Head of Special Security, an organization loosely tied to Lebanon’s Hizballah. Special Security used the cover name Islamic Jihad Organization for some terrorist operations.
Al-Musawi, Husayn: Founded Islamic Amal in 1982.
Muslim Brotherhood: An Islamic reform movement dedicated to instituting Islamic law and ending Western colonialism in all Islamic countries. It was founded in Egypt by Hasan Al-Banna in 1929.
NIE: National Intelligence Estimate, a special analytical assessment.
PFLP/GC: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine/General Command. Based in Syria, it is headed by Ahmad Jabril.
PETN: Pentaeryhritol tetranitrate, an explosive used to make military plastique.
PLO: Palestine Liberation Organization, a Palestinian umbrella group founded in 1964. It is headed by Yasir Arafat.
PUK: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a Kurdish-Iraqi political party and militia headed by Jalal Talabani.
RPG: Rocket-propelled grenade. Soviet-era weapon used in many parts of the world.
Safe house: An ordinary apartment or house used to meet agents. The lease (or title) is never in the name of the spy organization using it.
Shaykh ‘Abdallah barracks: A Lebanese gendarmerie barracks in the Biqa’ Valley, occupied by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in November 1982.
Al-Sugayr, Azmi: Aka Abu Al-’Abd. Headed Fatah stay-behind unit in Beirut during the early eighties.
T-72: A Soviet-era main battle tank in the inventory of most former Soviet countries and many states in the Middle East.
UAZ: A Soviet-era jeep.