The Facts

In his Chevrolet car driven by the Lebanese driver Zuhair Moughrabi, US Ambassador Francis E Meloy, who had assumed his diplomatic position in Lebanon on May 12, 1976, accompanied by the US Economic Counselor Robert O Waring, was headed from Ain El-Mreisseh to Hazmieh to meet the new Lebanese President Elias Sarkis without the knowledge of the US; it was Wednesday, June 16, 1976.

An escort vehicle ensured the security of the Ambassador’s Chevrolet, which carried a diplomatic plate numbered 104, from Ain El-Mreisseh as far as the Corniche al-Mazra’a and Barbir. However, for security reasons, the escort vehicle had to return to the embassy leaving the ambassador’s Chevrolet unguarded as it continued its route towards the Mathaf area.

Having grown concerned about the ambassador’s failure to show up on time, President Elias Sarkis instructed his assistants to contact the leaderships of the militant organizations operating in the areas where the ambassador may have passed, i.e. the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and its allies on the one hand and the Phalanges Party on the other. Neither party claimed to have any clue about the ambassador’s disappearance and each expressed its concern over the incident. Soon after the investigation into the abduction began, the bullet-ridden bodies of the men were found around 4:00 on a beach in Ramlet el-Baida. They were transferred to a nearby hospital first then to the American University Hospital a short time later. The Phalangist radio reported that an organization calling itself the “Socialist Labor Organization” had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Positions and Communication

A series of movements and positions arose in the wake of this ominous incident.

Immediately upon hearing the news, US President Gerald Ford called a meeting to discuss the issue with Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Director of Central Intelligence George Bush and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the US administration contacted a number of regional governments as well as the political organizations operating in Beirut to obtain full details of the incident and arrange the repatriation of the ambassador and his two companions, even before learning that their death was confirmed.

Without naming America, the USSR warned the US, through a statement in a Russian daily, against using the assassination as a pretext for military intervention in Lebanon.

Following phone calls from the US embassy, Raymond Eddeh contacted the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to attend to the matter.

The parties of the Lebanese National Movement allying with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine deplored the assassination and warned against the exploitation of the crime to further complicate the Lebanese crisis.

The Head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Yasser Arafat, branded the assassination as a ‘hideous crime’ and extended his sincere condolences to the families of the victims. He also requested the Palestinian ambassador to the US to inform the Secretary General that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is by no means involved in this brutal attack.

Information about the Crime

Investigations into the crime were immediately directed towards Palestinian organizations, for they were in charge of field operations in Beirut, more precisely in the area between Barbir and Mathaf where the abduction occurred. Fingers were particularly pointed at the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under George Hobeish and Wadeeh Haddad who had amicable ties with Moscow and were linked to the Soviet-American conflict in the region. However, inquiries failed to identify the exact Palestinian leaderships implicated in the operation and charges were pressed against two Palestinians, Nayef Kamel and Bassam al-Farkh.

In his book entitled Wadeeh Haddad: Rebel or Terrorist?, published by Riad Al-Rayyes Publishing House in January 2014, the Palestinian leader Bassam Abou Shareef uncovers the particulars of the murder, recounting that the US ambassador and his companions were abducted by members affiliated to the Popular Front under the command of Ahmad Youness, a security official who used to take orders from Wadeeh Haddad and who was later executed on suspicion over his role in the security matters that the Popular Front used to assign him. Abou Shareef accused Abou Ahmad Youness of serving as an agent for the Israeli Mossad, which utilized the murder at that stage to affront the Popular Front and hold it responsible.

Abou Shareef reports that Abou Ahmad Youness and his men disguised as Phalangists who wanted to salute the ambassador and his companions, thus tricked the driver into rolling down the window of the car, something which, under usual circumstances, was strictly prohibited for security reasons. As soon as he did, the driver was shot dead and the perpetrators hopped into the car and drove towards one of their strongholds where they finished off the two Americans. Wadeeh Haddad opined that the diplomats should not be killed so as to unveil another facet of the Palestinian revolution but the rapidity with which Ahmad Youness killed them served to reinforce that he had separate links and objectives hidden from his Palestinian leadership.