Furthermore, Hussein was suspicious of Sadat's promise to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to hand over the West Bank to the Palestinians in the event of a victory, as he considered the West Bank to be Jordanian territory.

As a politician, Erekat was considered to be a Yasser Arafat loyalist.

" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said, " We completely condemn this serious operation ... We were completely shocked ..." Many, though, considered those reactions as hypocrisy, since many Arab and Muslim states encourage anti-Americanism and many newspapers in the Arab world — for example the Islamist opposition press in Egypt -- openly celebrated the September 11 attacks.

Abu Daoud, who lived with his wife on a pension provided by the Palestinian Authority, has said that “ the Munich operation had the endorsement of Arafat ,” although Arafat was not involved in conceiving or implementing the attack.

In his autobiography, Abu Daoud writes that Arafat saw the team off on the mission with the words “ God protect you .”

Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (‎; 24 August 192911 November 2004 ), popularly known as Yasser Arafat () or by his kunya Abu Ammar (, ) was a Palestinian leader.

During the early 1950s, Arafat adopted the name Yasser, and in the early years of Arafat's guerrilla career, he assumed the nom de guerre of Abu Ammar.

Arafat had met Abu Iyad while attending Cairo University and Abu Jihad in Gaza.

Abu Iyad traveled with Arafat to Kuwait in late 1960 ; Abu Jihad, also working as a teacher, had already been living there since 1959.

After settling in Kuwait, Abu Iyad helped Arafat obtain a temporary job as a schoolteacher.

Arafat and his top aide Abu Jihad were detained in Syria when a pro-Syrian Palestinian leader, Yusef Urabi was murdered.

Assad appointed a panel, which found Arafat and Abu Jihad guilty of the murder.

Arafat and Abu Jihad meet Gamal Abdel Nasser upon arrival in Cairo to attend first emergency Arab League summit, 1970

Arafat and a number of his forces, including two high-ranking commanders, Abu Iyad and Abu Jihad, were forced into the northern corner of Jordan.

According to Abu Daoud's 1999 book, " Arafat was briefed on plans for the Munich hostage-taking.

Arafat and Abu Jihad blamed themselves for not successfully organizing a rescue effort.

Mass rioting broke-out and within weeks and partly upon consistent requests by Abu Jihad, Arafat attempted to direct the uprising, which lasted until 1992 – 93.

Arafat's personal doctor Ashraf al-Kurdi and aide Bassam Abu Sharif maintained that Arafat was poisoned, possibly by thallium.

The only group that waged uninterrupted attrition against Arafat was the Fatah Revolutionary Council led by maverick hardliner Sabri al-Banna ( better known as Abu Nidal ), who was viewed by other Palestinian organizations as not so much a guerrilla as a pure criminal with no higher goal than deposing the moderates at the head of the PLO.

The first step on the road map was the appointment of the first-ever Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas ( also known as Abu Mazen ,) by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

After the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas ( Abu Mazen ) on September 6, 2003, Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat nominated Qurei to fill the post.

Salah Mesbah Khalaf (), also known as Abu Iyad () ( born 1933 – January 14, 1991 ) was deputy chief and head of intelligence for the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the second most senior official of Fatah after Yasser Arafat.

Yasser Arafat and Abu Jihad meet Gamal Abdel Nasser upon arrival in Cairo to attend first emergency Arab League summit, 1970

From the mid-1970s, the group occupied a political stance midway between Yasser Arafat and the PLO hardliners.

This document, which was accepted by the Palestinian National Council ( PNC ) after lobbying by Fatah and DFLP, cautiously introduced the concept of a two-state solution in the PLO, and caused a split in the organization leading to the formation of the Rejectionist Front, where radical organizations such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC, Palestine Liberation Front and others gathered with the backing of Syria, Libya and Iraq to oppose Arafat and the mainstream PLO stance.

In 1978 the DFLP temporarily switched sides and joined the Rejectionist Front after clashing with Arafat on several issues, but it would continue to serve as a mediator in the factional disputes of the PLO.

In the interim, while armed Lebanese forces under the Maronite-controlled government sparred with Palestinian fighters, Egyptian leader Gamal Abd al-Nasser helped to negotiate the 1969 " Cairo Agreement " between Arafat and the Lebanese government, which granted the PLO autonomy over Palestinian refugee camps and access routes to northern Israel in return for PLO recognition of Lebanese sovereignty.

By June 15, Israeli units were entrenched outside Beirut and Yassir Arafat attempted through negotiations to evacuate the PLO.

* 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

Israel dismissed these statements of moderation from Arafat and the PNC resolution in Algiers, 1988 ( which had been sufficient to open a dialogue with the United States ) as " deceptive propaganda exercises " because ( among other objections ), " the PLO Covenant has not changed.

: The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Central Council will reaffirm the letter of 22 January 1998 from PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat to President Clinton concerning the nullification of the Palestinian National Charter provisions that are inconsistent with the letters exchanged between the PLO and the Government of Israel on 9 – 10 September 1993.

PLO Chairman Arafat, the Speaker of the Palestine National Council, and the Speaker of the Palestinian Council will invite the members of the PNC, as well as the members of the Central Council, the Council, and the Palestinian Heads of Ministries to a meeting to be addressed by President Clinton to reaffirm their support for the peace process and the aforementioned decisions of the Executive Committee and the Central Council.

Yasser Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004.

In Yasser Arafat's September 9, 1993 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, as part of the first Oslo accord, Arafat stated that " The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security.

Furthermore, assassination attempts by radical Palestinian factions within the PLO since the early years of the peace process kept Arafat from expressing full, public support of the peace process or condemnation of terrorism without risking further danger to his own life.

Zeevi urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to " lay waste to the Palestinian Authority " and assassinate PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

* 1993 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing the Oslo Accords granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

Later in his career, Arafat engaged in a series of negotiations with the government of Israel to end the decades-long conflict between it and the PLO.

Fatah's manpower was incremented further after Arafat decided to offer new recruits much higher salaries than members of the Palestine Liberation Army ( PLA ), the regular military force of the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ), which was created by the Arab League in the summer of 1964.

After repeated violations of the ceasefire from both the PLO and the Jordanian Army, Arafat called for King Hussein to be toppled.

However, due to the hostility of relations between Arafat and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad ( who had previously ousted President Salah Jadid ), the Palestinian fighters crossed the border into Lebanon to join PLO forces in that country, where they set up their new headquarters.

In 1973 – 74, Arafat closed Black September down, ordering the PLO to withdraw from acts of violence outside Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Succumbing to pressure from PLO sub-groups such as the PFLP, DFLP and the Palestine Liberation Front ( PLF ), Arafat aligned the PLO with the Communist and Nasserist Lebanese National Movement ( LNM ).

The LNM was led by Kamal Jumblatt, who had a friendly relationship with Arafat and other PLO leaders.