Hall. Al-Masri was shot several times in the heart. He was taken to Rashadiye Hospital and died on the operating table. Almost 50,000 Palestinians took part in his funeral on 3 March 1986. It is widely believed he was killed by Abdul Samad by the orders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). PFLP had accused him of "collaboration with Israel". Abdul Samad was arrested and indicted for the murder receiving life imprisonment for his act. Although another group, the Fatah Revolutionary Council, a Palestinian splinter group led by Abu Nidal, also claimed responsibility initially for the attack, this latter claim has been refuted with responsibility of PFLP clearly established. Al-Masri was the third Palestinian mayor or ex-mayor to fall victim to an assassin in little more than two years. Fahed Kawasme, the former mayor of Hebron, had been gunned down in Amman, Jordan on 30 December 1984. He had lived there since being deported by Israel in 1980 for pro-PLO activities. On 4 September 1984, Mayor Abdul Mahmoud Kishta of Rafa, in the Gaza Strip, was fatally wounded by bullets from a passing car on a street in Rafa. See also List of mayors of Nablus References 1940 births 1986 deaths Mayors of Nablus Palestinian terrorism victims