Basil Al-Kubaisi

Basil Al Kubaisi (; 1934 – 6 April 1973) was an Iraqi nationalist activist and academic who was assassinated by the Mossad agents in Paris on 6 April 1973. He was one of the members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Early life and education Al Kubaisi was born in Baghdad in 1934. His father, Raouf Al Kubaisi, worked for Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz and held several posts in Iraq, including the governor of Basra.

Al Kubaisi held a master's degree from the Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1966. His MA thesis was entitled The Algerian Front de Liberation (F.L.N.), 1954-1964: From Liberation Movement to Political Party. His doctoral thesis was entitled Arab Nationalist Movement 1951-1971: From Pressure Group to Socialist Party. While making interviews to gather data for his study Al Kubaisi also met an American agent Robert Ames in Aden, Yemen. It was later republished by the Arab Research Foundation in 1985 with the same title.

Career and activities Following his graduation in 1955 Al Kubaisi returned to Iraq and became a member of the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM). He was appointed director of the Office of the Iraqi Foreign Minister in 1956. He was released from prison soon after the regime change in July 1958 which overthrew the Iraqi monarchy. He was again arrested by the new regime due to his ANM activities.

Al Kubaisi worked as a faculty member at the American University of Beirut. Then he joined the University of Calgary, Canada, in 1969 where he worked until his assassination in 1972.

Assassination Israel initiated attacks against leading Arab figures after the killing of Israeli Olympic team members by the Black September Organization in Munich in September 1972. Al Kubaisi was on the assassination list of the Mossad's Committee X, and they claimed that although he was not related to the Munich attack, he was a member of the PFLP which had been involved in various terrorist attacks against Israelis. On the other hand, it was argued by the Mossad that Al Kubaisi helped the Black September Organization in terms of logistics and communications in Europe.

Al Kubaisi was shot to death by two Mossad agents near his hotel on Paris's Chauveau Lagarde street on 6 April 1973. They gunned down him nine times using a silenced Beretta pistol, and he died instantly. A Palestinian news agency reported that he was “on a mission” for the PFLP in Paris. The magazine also published an obituary where Al Kubaisi was described as an "important ANM and PFLP member."