Birth: NULL/NULL/1951 Death:NULL/NULL/NULL
Born in Gaza in 1951 to a refugee family; studied in Egypt; was a co-founder – with fellow students Fathi Shiqaqi and Bashir Musa – of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in 1979 (all three were expelled from Egypt following Pres. Sadat’s assassination in 1981 and returned to the OPT, where they began organizing the PIJ); worked as a mosque preacher and taught Islamic Studies at the University in Gaza; was expelled – together with Fathi Shiqaqi – from Gaza by Israel in 1988 for inciting people to take part in the Intifada and went to Lebanon; is considered the spiritual head of Islamic Jihad; has been named by the US an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; was designated by the US as a Specially Designated Terrorist in Jan. 1995; is said to have left the PIJ due to disagreements with the group’s leadership; was indicted by the US Dept. of Justice in Tampa, Florida, in Feb. 2003.
