Fathi ash-Shiqaqi, the leader of Islamic Jihad,…

Fathi ash-Shiqaqi, the leader of Islamic Jihad, is killed when five shots are fired into his head at point-blank range.

The assassination, carried out by two gunmen on a motorcycle, takes place in Sliema, a seaside town in Malta.

Shiqaqi, who was traveling home to Syria after holding meetings with Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya, is not positively identified until October 29 because he was carrying a Libyan passport and was using an alias.

The Islamic Jihad, which has taken responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israel in the past, accuses the Israeli secret service of plotting the assassination and vows to take revenge.