The 最高の，を越す QC, his 消えるd sister and the mystery of Mossad's first British hitwoman

By Tom Rawstorne for The Mail on Sunday
Updated: 00:52 BST, 20 February 2010

To her 隣人s in the nearby Rue Verdun, Penelope was jus t another eccentric foreigner living her life as best she could in the heart of war-torn west Beirut.

The attractive 30-year-old Englishwoman passed her days seemingly doing nothing more than looking after 逸脱する cats and sketching from her window.

Then （機の）カム January 22, 1979. At 3.35pm the street was 激しく揺するd by a 抱擁する 爆発 as a 100lb car 爆弾 was 爆発させるd. Nine people lost their lives in the 爆破 but it was the death of Ali Hassan Salameh, ripped apart in the 支援する of his Chevrolet 駅／配置する wagon, that would send shockwaves around the world.

Dubbed the Red Prince, he had been the 長，指導者 planner for the テロリスト organisation 黒人／ボイコット September and was behind the （警察の）手入れ，急襲 at the 1972 Munich オリンピック in which 11 Israeli 競技者s were killed.

Erika 議会s (left): 指名するd as a Mossad 暗殺者.? One of the 申し立てられた／疑わしい Dubai team who 提起する／ポーズをとるd as 'Gail Folliard' ( 権利)

Ever since, 暗殺 squads from Mossad, the Israeli 知能 service, had been 始める，決める loose on the world hell-bent on 復讐. And on that January day, their 追跡（する） for Salameh finally （機の）カム to an end.

Of course, まっただ中に all the 大混乱 and the 混乱, nobody would have noticed Penelope slipping 静かに out of her flat.

She had first taken the trouble to fill the cats' dishes with food and had told a 隣人 that the commotion had upset her so much she ーするつもりであるd to 残り／休憩（する） in a hotel nearby.

But in fact she would never return and, to this day, her どの辺に remain a mystery.

What has, however, become 明らかな is that far from 存在 an innocent Englishwoman abroad, Penelope was a Mossad 秘かに調査する trained to use her feminine wiles to inveigle her way into the life of one of the world's most 恐れるd テロリストs? -? and then help kill him.

Indeed, the 証拠 堅固に 示唆するs that it was she, a modern-day Mata Hari, who 活動させる／戦時編成するd the 起爆装置 that blew up Salamah and his 護衛s.

Hers is an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の story and this week it 伸び（る）d a grim new fascination. The 殺人 in Dubai of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh by an 11-strong team of 暗殺者s has 平行のs to the 殺人 of Salameh.?

Not only is Mossad 広範囲にわたって believed to be behind al-Mabhouh's 死刑執行 but, as with the 殺人，大当り of Salameh, a woman played a central 役割 on the 攻撃する，衝突する squad.

While 疑問s remain about the actual 身元s of the Dubai 暗殺者s, the years have 供給するd some intriguing 手がかり（を与える）s as to who 'Penelope' really was.

証拠 that has 現れるd over the years 示唆するs that she was in fact a British woman by the 指名する of Erika Maria 議会s, and she was born and brought up in London as par t of a 豊富な Anglo-ユダヤ人の family.

The first 女性（の） 暗殺者: The woman pretending to be Irish 国民 Gail Folliard smiles as she passes under a CCTV camera during 監視 of the hotel

Living in Notting Hill, her 早期に life, 含むing stints of babysitting for the family of 近づく-隣人 労働 MP Tony Benn, never hinted at the 演劇 to come.

But having travelled to イスラエル to その上の her 熟考する／考慮するs at a Hebrew university she was 的d by Mossad and 説得するd to become an スパイ／執行官 after learning more about the 大破壊／大虐殺, and how many of her 親族s had died in it.

Having spent years as a 'sleeper' in Germany, she was 活動させる／戦時編成するd and sent to Beirut for her one and only 使節団. After that, she was 密輸するd into イスラエル, where it is believed she has been in hiding ever since.

Such was her 恐れる of PLO 報復s her only 接触する with her parents, both now dead, was the 時折の Christmas card 耐えるing an Israeli postage stamp.

But there is one その上の, 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の, 新たな展開 to the story. Erika Maria 議会s, 'Mossad 暗殺者', has a brother. His 指名する is Nicholas 議会s? -? and he is a QC and 主要な 民事裁判所 裁判官 who is a 中心存在 of the British judicial 設立.

With six days of the 1972 Olympics left to run, at 4.30am on September 5, five Palestinian gunmen, dressed in tracksuits and carrying sports 捕らえる、獲得するs 規模d the 6ft 6in 盗品故買者 surrounding the Olympic Village.

武装した with Kalashnikov 強襲，強姦 ライフル銃／探して盗むs and 手りゅう弾s they 長，率いるd for the building 住宅 the Israeli team.

Within an hour nine 人質s had been taken and two 競技者s were dead. A 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of 需要・要求するs was 問題／発行するd and, after 21 hours of 交渉s, the German 当局 agreed to 飛行機で行く the gunmen and their 捕虜s to a nearby 離着陸場.

There, live on television, a botched 救助（する） 試みる／企てる was 行う／開催する／段階d. It resulted in the death of all the 人質s, five of the Palestinians and a policeman.

決定するd to wreak their 復讐 for the Munich 大虐殺, Mossad almost すぐに 乗る，着手するd upon a clinically 遂行する／発効させるd programme of 暗殺s.

Known as '操作／手術 Wrath of God', its 的s were Yasser Arafat's パレスチナ 解放 Organisation and the 黒人／ボイコット September guerillas believed to be behind Munich.

Within 41 days of the 競技者s' 誘拐する, Mossad chalked up its first kill. Their 的 was Wael Zwaiter, the 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd leader of 黒人／ボイコット September, who was 発射 in Rome by a 攻撃する，衝突する squad as he returned to his flat one evening.

The day after his death, Israeli 無線で通信する proudly 報告（する）／憶測d the 'liquidation' of the first of those 伴う／関わるd in the planning of the Munich 大虐殺.

A woman 提起する／ポーズをとるing as Gail Folliard 火刑／賭けるs out the hallway

Next, in December, was the 死刑執行 of Mahmoud Hamshiri, the PLO's 最高の，を越す man in フラン. The 攻撃する，衝突する was carried out in Paris and 伴う／関わるd a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in Hamshiri's flat 存在 switched with one built by Mossad that was packed with plastic 爆発性のs.

A telephone call 誘惑するd him to the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and the 爆弾 was 爆発させるd.

As the months passed, the 使節団s got ますます daring. A （警察の）手入れ，急襲 into the heart of Beirut 伴う／関わるing special 軍隊s dressed as women （人命などを）奪う，主張するd the lives of three high-最高位の 的s, while in Cyprus a woman スパイ／執行官 誘惑するd a man to his death on an 爆発するing mattress.

But then, in the small Norwegian town of Lillehammer things started to go wrong. Targetting Ali Hassan Salameh, second in the 攻撃する，衝突する 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） only to Arafat himself, a 事例／患者 of mistaken 身元 led to the death of an innocent Moroccan waiter.

逮捕（する）s 速く followed with the result that that five-strong team of 暗殺者s were 刑務所，拘置所d for 殺人. イスラエル was 直接／まっすぐに linked to the 殺人，大当り and others around Europe, 軍隊ing the 取り消し of 操作／手術 Wrath of God.

But Mossad wasn't about to forget the unfinished 商売／仕事 with Salameh.

Five times they would try to kill him, but every time the poster-boy of Arab テロ行為 escaped.

By 1979 he was 長，指導者 of 安全 of Al Fatah, the guerilla arm of the PLO and was 直接／まっすぐに 責任がある Arafat's safety. 連合させるd with his fondness for silk shirts and elegant Western 控訴s, it earned him the 愛称 of the ' playboy 警官，（賞などを）獲得する'? -? a 評判 高めるd by the fact that his second wife was Lebanon's 1972 行方不明になる Universe.

But behind all t his, Salameh was a deadly serious player and was 広範囲にわたって regarded as Arafat's anointed 相続人. For this 推論する／理由? -? and for his 関与 in planning the Munich 大虐殺? -? the Israelis were 決定するd to continue with their 政策 of international 暗殺.

With this in mind, they put together a 計画（する） to 新採用する an international team to 容易にする his liquidation. And it was here that their English 新採用する? -? 'Penelope'? -? would come into play.

に引き続いて Salameh's 殺人, a British パスポート was discovered in Penelope's apartment in the Rue Verdun. It was in the 指名する of Erika Maria 議会s and gave her date of birth as February 10, 1948.

From this 文書 alone it is, of course, impossible to be sure that this was her true 身元. Today, に引き続いて the '攻撃する，衝突する' in Dubai, it has 現れるd that the 殺し屋s were almost certainly travelling on 誤った British パスポートs, using 詳細（に述べる）s taken from the 身元s of individuals born in this country but now living in イスラエル.

The same could, of course, be true in the 事例／患者 of Erika 議会s. But the 証拠 示唆するs さもなければ.

Her birth 証明書 明らかにする／漏らすs that her parents were Marcus and Lona, who had married in London during the war.?

The five-星／主役にする Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai where the 殺人 took place

Marcus, a 勝利者 of the Le Mans 24 hour race and successful モーター sport 経営者／支配人, （機の）カム from a 井戸／弁護士席-to-do English background (his father was an 海軍大将).

His wife Lona, whose maiden 指名する was 甚だしい／１２ダース, （機の）カム from a ユダヤ人の family from Czechoslovakia and had fled to Britain to escape the Nazis.

Erika and her older brother Nicholas, who was three years older, were brought up in comfortable surroundings in Holland Park, West London, and both were 個人として educated.

But their parents separated as they were growing up, with Erika living with her mother. She would go on to 熟考する／考慮する 地理学 at Southampton, where 教えるs remember her as 献身的な to her work but at the same time something of a daredevil, owning a 小型の Cooper that she would 運動 around the city at high 速度(を上げる）.

After university she travelled 簡潔に to Australia before moving to イスラエル to 熟考する／考慮する. She arrived at much the same time as the Munich 大虐殺 and soon after, によれば 知能 sources in イスラエル and Germany, she was 的d by Mossad as they 'talent-spotted' for an スパイ／執行官 to help them kill Salameh.

Erika was perfect. Thanks to her mother she spoke German fluently (a talent cleverly 偉業／利用するd by Mossad's masterplan) and her 忠誠 to the Israeli 原因（となる） was 固く結び付けるd after Mossad 供給（する）d her with harrowing 詳細（に述べる）s of how some of her maternal 親族s had died in Nazi gas 議会s.

'She was like a good, ordinary English girl,' explains Wilhelm Dietl, a German 専門家 on Mossad who has written a 調書をとる／予約する on the 暗殺 of Salameh, and has had 接近 to 知能 とじ込み／提出する on the 攻撃する，衝突する. 'As far as Mossad was 関心d she was clean and, crucially, didn't look ユダヤ人の.'

Several years of 集中的な training followed, after which she moved to Germany in 1975. She lived there for three years. The 目的 was two-倍の. First, it distanced her from her time in イスラエル. Second, に引き続いて the 暗殺, it would 示唆する that the German 安全 services were behind the 殺人，大当り? -? not Mossad.

At the end of 1978, having been given a ビザ for Lebanon by the Lebanese 大使館 in Bonn, Erika travelled to Beirut. Using the 指名する Penelope, she rented a flat overlooking the Rue Verdun, の近くに to where Salameh lived, 提起する／ポーズをとるing as an eccentric painter and PLO 支持者.

After several months she 侵入するd the 福利事業 organisation of the Palestinians and from there on to reach Salameh was not a problem,' one of the Mossad スパイ／執行官s 伴う／関わるd in planning the 攻撃する，衝突する has since 明らかにする／漏らすd. 'So she went to the same swimming pool as him and later on they got friendly.'

Whether or not she slept with him is 不明瞭な, but what we do know, によれば sources, is that having 設立するd Salameh's daily 決まりきった仕事 another Mossad スパイ／執行官 flew into Beirut two weeks before the 攻撃する，衝突する.

Also using a British パスポート, he used the 指名する Peter Scriver (both the 指名する and the パスポート have been shown to be 偽の) and after checking into a hotel rented a Volkswagen from the Lenacar 機関.

Some time on January 17, the two met up, after which Scriver drove the VW to a secret garage where it was equipped with a 100lb payload of 爆発性のs. すぐに afterwards, his work done, the mysterious Scriver left the country, with a third スパイ／執行官 parking the VW in the Rue Verdun 100 yards from Salameh's apartment, and in 見解（をとる） of Penelope's flat, on January 22 at 2.30pm.

An hour later, Salameh left his home in his Chevrolet, in the company of four 護衛s. As they passed the VW the 爆弾 was 爆発させるd, mortally 負傷させるing the occupants of the 駅／配置する wagon 同様に as 殺人，大当り four passers-by? -? 含むing a German 修道女 and an English student. A その上の 18 bystanders were 負傷させるd.

Although some 報告（する）／憶測s 示唆する the 爆弾 was 始める，決める off by a タイミング 装置, the Mossad スパイ／執行官 伴う／関わるd in the 攻撃する，衝突する （人命などを）奪う，主張するs that it was 爆発させるd by Erika.

'Her 役割 was only to 圧力（をかける） the button at the 権利 time when his car was passing the Volkswagen,' he said. 'Co-ordinating it was very difficult and she was trained to do it. But she managed so w ell that when he passed she 圧力（をかける）d the button and got a direct 攻撃する，衝突する.'

Even as the smoke settled, there was little 疑問 as to what had happened. イスラエル? -? and Wrath of God? -? had finally got their man.

The Palestinians were furious. When Arafat learned of Salameh's death he said: 'We have lost a lion.' And he ordered those responsible to be 追跡（する）d 負かす／撃墜する.

But by then it was already too late. Like the 攻撃する，衝突する, the Mossad スパイ／執行官s' escape had been meticulously planned. By the time the PLO was beginning to understand the 役割 played by 'Penelope' she was in イスラエル, having driven to the Christian port of Jounieh before 存在 spirited out of Lebanon on an Israeli gunboat.

In her flat she had left a British パスポート? -? （種を）蒔くing the seeds of a mystery that would last to this day.

At the time it was 広範囲にわたって assumed that the Erika 議会s's 身元 must have been a Mossad 創造. After all, not only was it a tried and 実験（する）d スパイ technique but checks on her 共犯者, Scriver, showed that he did not 存在する. Could the same be said of Erika 議会s? It would seem not.

尊敬（する）・点d author Aaron J. Klein says the パスポート was 本物の and that Erika had been able to use her own 身元, as this was a one-off 攻撃する，衝突する.

'Erika 議会s was a nice British lady who even used her own パスポート,' explains Klein, whose 調書をとる／予約する Striking 支援する 詳細（に述べる）s the Israeli 返答 to Munich. 'She was an 広告 hoc operative 新採用するd for a 明確な／細部 使節団. She was used and no longer needed after the 操作／手術. A ありふれた 手続き.'

Wilhelm Dietl, the German Mossad 専門家, has その上の 確認するd her 身元. He travelled to Britain in the 早期に 1990s and spoke with Erika's father.

'They didn't have a 広大な／多数の／重要な 関係, but he said there was the 半端物 Christmas card with an Israeli postmark on it,' he says. 'What was （疑いを）晴らす, however, was that she did remain in touch with her brother.'

He is Oxford-educated Nicholas Mordaunt 議会s, a QC since 1985 and 民事裁判所 裁判官. The Mail 接触するd h im on two occasions to discuss the 申し立てられた／疑わしい 関与 of his sister in the 殺人，大当り of Salameh.

Asked if the Erika Maria 議会s 指名するd as a Mossad スパイ／執行官 was in fact his sister, Mr 議会s replied: 'You are 追求するing from your own point of 見解（をとる） a very proper line of 調査 but you will understand that it's not something I can help you with.'

The conversation continued thus: Reporter: 'You appear to be her brother and I am intrigued to know if that is 正確な and what indeed has happened to your sister.'

Mr 議会s: 'The answer is you probably <特記する／引用する>are </特記する／引用する>intrigued' (laughs).

Reporter: 'I am 令状ing an article about her. I hope if the Israeli 知能 services had assumed someone's 身元, your sister's, you might be able to guide me on that.'

Mr 議会s: 'It's a very fair line, but, there one is? -? 井戸／弁護士席? -? it's probably really best I don't say anything.'

接触するd a second time he would only say that he hoped that 'time has moved on'.

An intriguing 返答, indeed. But, then, in the world 住むd by 'Penelope', a world of international スパイ, of Mossad-trained 殺し屋集団s, and of life-long ちらりと見ることs over one's shoulder, what else should we 推定する／予想する?

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