Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh
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Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh (c. 1968-August 3, 1989) was a Muslim Lebanese terrorist, called by some a martyr. He died priming a bomb intended to kill author Salman Rushdie following the publication of The Satanic Verses.
[edit] Biography
Mazeh was born in Conakry, Guinea. A Lebanese citizen, he grew up outside Beirut and joined a local Hezbollah cell while in his teens.
On August 3, 1989, Mazeh was trying to prime a bomb hidden in a book with RDX explosives when it detonated, killing him and taking out two floors of the Beverley House Hotel in Sussex Gardens, Paddington, Central London. A previously unknown Lebanese group, the Organisation of the Mujahidin of Islam, said he died preparing an attack "on the apostate Rushdie".
The Islamic World Movement of Martyrs' Commemoration built a shrine in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery for him that notes he was "Martyred in London, August 3, 1989. The first martyr to die on a mission to kill Salman Rushdie.".[1]
James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation testified before the United States Congress that a "March 1989" (sic) explosion in Britain was a Hezbollah attempt to assassinate Rushdie which failed when a bomb exploded prematurely, killing a terrorist in London.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Loyd, Anthony. "Tomb of the unknown assassin reveals mission to kill Rushdie", The Times, 2005-06-08.
- ^ James Phillips (2007-06-20). Hezbollah’s Terrorist Threat to the European Union - Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe.