Palestinian terror organization picks new leader after longtime chief’s death

DAMASCUS, Syria — A breakaway Palestinian terror organization that carried out headline-grabbing attacks against Israel in the 1970s and 1980s has named a veteran new leader after its longtime founder died, the group says.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) says Talal Naji was elected during a meeting in Damascus. He will replace Ahmed Jibril, who died on July 7 after being sick for months.

Naji was born in Nazareth in British-ruled Palestine in 1946. He studied in Syrian schools and joined the ranks of the Palestinian Liberation Front faction in 1962 before later joining the PFLP-GC.

Naji, who had lost an arm and an eye in a grenade explosion, reportedly while training, had been the deputy chief of the PFLP-GC since 1973. He obtained a doctorate in political science from Moscow in 1984.

Khaled Jibril, the son of the late leader, is named as his deputy.