In 1980 he directed '' Lion of the Desert '' , in which Quinn and Irene Papas were joined by Oliver Reed , Rod Steiger , and John Gielgud . It was about the real-life Bedouin leader Omar Mukhtar ( Quinn ) , who fought Benito Mussolini 's Italian troops in the deserts of Libya . The movie is now critically acclaimed , after initially receiving negative publicity in the West for being partially funded by Libya 's Muammar Gaddafi , who invested $ 35 million in the movie . This negative publicity may have been the cause of its relatively poor performance at the box office . Clint Morris describes the movie as : " A grand epic adventure that 'll stand as a highpoint in the producing career of Moustapha Akkad . " In the United Kingdom , Akkad once tried to buy Pinewood Studios from The Rank Organisation and also had a studio at Twickenham . At the time of his death , he was in the process of producing an $ 80 million movie featuring Sean Connery about Saladin and the Crusades , for which he already had the script , that would be filmed in Jordan . Speaking of the film , he said : Akkad and his 34-year-old daughter , Rima Akkad Monla , were killed in the 2005 Amman bombings . They were both in the lobby at the Grand Hyatt Amman on 9 November when a bomb exploded ; his daughter died instantly , and Akkad died of his injuries two days later in a hospital . Akkad is survived by his former wife , Patricia Al Akkad and their sons , Taric and Malek , who helped produce most of the '' Halloween '' movies , as well as his widow , Suha Ascha Akkad , and their son Zaid
2005 Amman bombings
2005 Amman bombings
Moustapha Akkad