An Austrian court unfroze the bank account of a woman suspected of involvement in a Palestinian terrorist group.
Austria’s Justice Ministry, intelligence services and Jewish community reportedly are furious with the decision to unfreeze the $10 million account of Halima al-Mughrabi, an Iraqi national accused of managing finances for the Abu Nidal group, Ha’aretz reported.
Al-Mughrabi’s accounts was frozen by Austria Bank in the 1990s; al-Mughrabi was later arrested and charged with being active in the Abu Nidal terrorist organization and managing its bank account.
A Vienna court was not convinced by evidence that al-Mughrabi had terrorist ties and unfroze the account. Austrian prosecutors have appealed to the Supreme Court.
Abu Nidal, who was born in Jaffa in 1937, once was considered among the world’s most dangerous terrorists. One of the founders of the Fatah faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Abu Nidal split from the group in the 1970s and formed his own organization. He and his group are believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including those killed in two attacks on El Al Airlines counters in Rome and Vienna in 1985.
