Syrian Foreign Minister Abdul Halim Khaddam survived an assassination attempt at Abu Dhabi Airport at the conclusion of his visit to the United Arab Emirates, while his Emirati counterpart, Saif Ghobash, was shot multiple times and later succumbed to his injuries.
At eleven o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, October 25, 1977, Abdul Halim Khaddam, accompanied by the Emirati Foreign Minister Saif bin Ghobash, was departing the UAE via Abu Dhabi Airport. As the ministers entered the main hall of Abu Dhabi Airport and on their way to the VIP lounge, shots were fired with the aim of assassinating Khaddam, but they hit Minister Saif Ghobash in the shoulder and abdomen. He was transported to the hospital and later died from his injuries.
The Palestinian organization “Black June,” supported by Iraq at the time, claimed responsibility for the operation. The perpetrator, a Palestinian construction worker, was tried in the UAE and sentenced to death.
