Three members of a Baghdad-based Palestinian terrorist group were sentenced to 30 and 35 year prison terms in Central Criminal Court here yesterday for the attempted assassination of the Israeli Ambassador to Britain, Shlomo Argov last June 3.
Hassein Said. 23, a Jordanian national who fired the shots that left the 53 year-old Israeli diplomat almost totally paralyzed, and Marwan Banna, 20, also of Jordan, who drove the getaway car, were given 30 year sentences by Judge William Mars Jones, Nauoff Rosan, 36, an Iraqi citizen, described by the prosecution as the leader of the gang, received a 35 year sentence.
The prosecutor said the three were members of the Palestine National Liberation Movement, a breakaway faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by Sabri Banna who is known as Abu Nidal. They arrived in Britain in 1980 and attended language courses while preparing “for acts of assassination and sabotage” aimed at Israeli targets, the prosecution charged.
Argov, who sustained severe brain damage when he was shot as he left a diplomatic dinner at a London hotel, was hospitalized here until he was returned to Israel last August for further treatment. He is confined to a wheelchair, is partially blind and has difficulty speaking.
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