Amin al-Hindi, 70, Former Palestinian Intelligence Chief, Dies

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JERUSALEM — Amin al-Hindi, an associate of the late Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and a former Palestinian Authority intelligence chief who was widely suspected of having played an organizing role in the deadly attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, died Tuesday in Amman, Jordan. He was 70.

His death was reported by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, which did not list the cause. However, the Palestinian ambassador in Amman, Atallah Kheiry, told Agence France-Presse that Mr. Hindi had been treated for cancer.

Mr. Hindi was born in Gaza in 1940 but spent many years in exile as a security officer for Fatah, the Palestinian national liberation movement that was founded by Mr. Arafat in the late 1950s, and that became the dominant force in the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian umbrella group.

If Mr. Hindi was involved in the Munich attack — he never acknowledged any responsibility — he may have been the last of the plotters and perpetrators to survive. Several were tracked down and killed by Israeli counter-terrorist squads abroad. The self-declared mastermind of the attack, Mohammed Oudeh, better known by his guerrilla name, Abu Daoud, died in early July in Damascus at the age of 73.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/world/middleeast/19hindi.html

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1. Fatah accepts Haniyeh unity invite(possible result of al-Hindi's death)

Fatah officials, in Gaza to offer condolences to family members of a former PA intelligence chief, will begin meetings with Hamas officials to discuss Palestinian unity, sources confirmed Friday.

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The two were in Gaza offering condolences to Amin Al-Hindi, who died in Jordan on Wednesday.

Speaking to Ma'an, Besisu confirmed that the Fatah officials had accepted an invitation made by Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh when they met at the Al-Hindi home.

"We hope that Al-Hindi’s death can be the spark for the people to review the state of division, which serves only the enemies of the Palestinians," Besisu said.

Al-Hindi was among the organizers of an attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He was appointed as an intelligence official under former President Yasser Arafat in the late 1970s, and headed the PA Intelligence Services when they were founded in the 1990s.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=309423