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. Basil was educated in Baghdad. He attended the American University of Beirut until 1954 when he was expelled from the university due to his nationalist activities. He continued his university studies in the USA where he received a degree in political sciences from Adams State University, Colorado, in 1956.
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.
Al Kubaisi received his PhD from the American University, Washington, D.C., in 1971. His doctoral thesis was entitled Arab Nationalist Movement 1951-1971: From Pressure Group to Socialist Party. It was published by the Arab Research Foundation in 1985 with the title Harakat al Qawmiyyin al Arab.
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 arrested and detained in March 1958 due to his involvement in the attack against the Jordanian delegation in Baghdad. The Jordanians were in Baghdad as part of the negotiations to declare the Hashemite Union. Al Kubaisi 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.
Following his release from prison Al Kubaisi left Iraq and settled in Beirut. He became a member of the PFLP in 1967 when the organization was established. He was a faculty member at the American University of Beirut. He joined the University of Calgary, Canada, in 1969 and worked there 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. He was shot to death by two Mossad agents near his hotel on Paris's Chauveau Lagarde street on 6 April 1973. The perpetrators were part of the Caesarea group within the Mossad. They gunned down him nine times using a silenced Baretta pistol, and he died instantly.
Al Kubaisi was buried in Baghdad after a funeral ceremony attended by many Iraqi and Palestinian officials.
Aftermath
Immediately after the assassination the Iraqi embassy in Paris announced that it was "a terrorist act by Israeli secret agents." A Palestinian news agency reported that he was “on a mission” in Paris. His doctoral thesis was published in the PFLP's media organ Al-Hadaf magazine after his death. The magazine also published an obituary where Al Kubaisi was described as an "important ANM and PFLP member."
Personal life
Al Kubaisi was married to Nadra Al Khudairi who held a PhD in English literature and was a member of a well-known Baghdadi family. They had three sons, Ahmed, Yasser and Yaarub. His wife and children were killed in a plane crash in Syria in 1974.
References
20th-century Iraqi politicians
1934 births
1973 deaths
Arab Nationalist Movement
Iraqi Arab nationalists
Politicians from Baghdad
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members
Iraqi people murdered abroad
People murdered in Paris
People killed in Mossad operations
Iraqi expatriates in Canada
Terrorism deaths in France
Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre
Howard University alumni
American University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Calgary
Iraqi prisoners and detainees
Academic staff of the American University of Beirut
Deaths by firearm in France
Adams State University alumni