disinfozone/The_Info_Web
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions

vault backup: 2026-10-15 14:01:13

Browse source
This commit is contained in:
disinfo.zone 2026-10-15 14:01:14 -04:00
parent 70fb85249f
commit ef6dbe44ac
No known key found for this signature in database
67 changed files with 3030 additions and 862 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

7
60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Syrian Embassy in London.md
View file

@ -7,11 +7,16 @@ tags:
- UK
category: "Landmark"
summary: "The Syrian Embassy in London was implicated in a 1986 plot to bomb an El Al plane, orchestrated by Rafi Eitan to discredit Syria."
updated: 2026-10-12
updated: 2026-10-15
---
The [[Syrian Embassy in London]] was implicated in a 1986 plot to bomb an [[El Al]] plane. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] wrote that the plot was orchestrated by [[Rafael Eitan|Rafi Eitan]] to discredit [[Syria]], and that [[Nezar Hindawi]] was instructed to meet with a Syrian intelligence officer at the embassy, leading him to believe his actions were for the Arab cause.[^1] On October 24, 1986, Foreign Secretary [[Geoffrey Howe]] told the Commons that the government had decided to break diplomatic relations with Syria. The Syrian ambassador, Dr. Haydar, was told to close his embassy and leave the country within 14 days.[^2] Howe also told the Commons: "There is conclusive evidence of Syrian official involvement with Hindawi." He said the Syrian Government's claim that its staff dealt with Hindawi "throughout as a bona fide journalist" was "frankly incredible."[^2]
Hindawi's movements before and after the attempt placed the embassy at the center of the case. Howe told the House of Commons that Hindawi spent the night after the failed attempt in Syrian embassy accommodation, where hair clippings and hair dye were found, and that in May 1986 the government had demanded the withdrawal of three Syrian embassy attachés, whose immunity the Syrian government declined to waive so that police could question them.[^3] The 2011 High Court judgment summarizes the plot as carried out "at the instigation of the Government of Syria and with the assistance of its officials, including diplomats in London."[^4] In June 1986 [[David B. Ottaway|Ottaway]] reported that an unnamed Reagan administration source said Syrian intelligence regarded Hindawi as too unstable to use, and that embassy officials in London refused to take him in after the failed attempt.[^5]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
[^2]: Howe, Sir Geoffrey, statement on Anglo-Syrian relations, House of Commons, October 24, 1986, HC Deb vol. 102, cols. 1504-14. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1986/oct/24/anglo-syrian-relations
[^3]: HC Deb 24 October 1986 vol 102 cc1504-14, "Anglo-Syrian Relations," statement by Sir Geoffrey Howe. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1986/oct/24/anglo-syrian-relations
[^4]: [2011] EWHC 830 (QB), *Hindawi, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice*, April 1, 2011, para 1. https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/qb/2011/830
[^5]: David B. Ottaway, "Syrian Connection To Terrorism Probed," *Washington Post*, June 1, 1986, CIA reading room copy. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000604900038-5