Iqab ("Punishment, Sanction," in Arabic)

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IQAB ("punishment, sanction," in Arabic)

Palestinian radical group, constituted in 1973 by members of the Black September movement. Libyan special services supported it in the hope of revenge for the Libyan Airlines Boeing airplane that was shot down over Sinai on 21 February 1973 by the Israeli air force. On 5 September 1973, five Palestinian members of this group, among whom were Amin al-Hindi and Atef Bseisso, were arrested in Italy while they were preparing an attack against an Israeli airliner. On 17 December, a commando of this splinter group carried out an attack on a Pan Am plane in the Rome airport, which caused thirty-four deaths. In 1975, after Black September was disbanded, Iqab was dissolved in its turn, its members joining the Palestinian security services, headed by Salah Khalaf.

SEE ALSO Black September Organization;Bseisso, Atef Faʾiq;Hindi, Amin al-;Khalaf, Salah.