Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Ramadan Shalah (born February 1, 1958) is the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Shalah was born as Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shalah on 1 February 1958 in Shuja'iyya, also called Gaza Sejaiya district, a neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, which at the time was under Egyptian control. In 1967, Gaza came under Israeli control following the Six Day War.
Shalah earned a Ph.D. in banking and economics from the University of Durham, England.
Professor Sami Al-Arian, who later pleaded guilty to helping PIJ and was sentenced to 57 months in prison, helped bring Shalah to Al-Arian's university in Tampa where Shalah then taught as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, and where Al-Arian appointed Shalah the head of WISE.
Shalah left in 1995 to head PIJ. Al-Arian said he was shocked to learn Shalah was "anything other than a scholar."
Shalah became secretary-general of PIJ after the assassination of its previous leader, Fathi Shiqaqi in Malta in 1995. Shalah was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" under United States law on November 27, 1995.
Along with fellow PIJ member, Abd Al Aziz Awda, Shalah was indicted in a 53 count indictment in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa, Florida, on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges of alleged involvement in racketeering activities for the designated international terrorist organization known as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Shalah is wanted for conspiracy to conduct the affairs of the PIJ through a pattern of racketeering activities such as bombings, murders, extortion, and money laundering.
For that indictment, Shalah then became one of six alleged and indicted terrorist fugitives among the second and most recent group of indicted fugitives to be added to the United States FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list on February 24, 2006, along with Abd Al Aziz Awda.
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