Awda, Abd al Aziz (1950–)

Abd al Aziz Awda, frequently referred to as Sheik Odeh (aka Abd al Aziz Odeh; Abdel Aziz Odeh; Abu Ahmed; Fadl Abu Ahmed; Sheik Awda; the Sheik), has been accused of directing bombings, murders, extortions, and money laundering, both within the United States and internationally, on behalf of a designated terrorist organization, the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Along with Fathi Shaqaqi, Awda founded the PIJ in the late 1970s. Awda has served as a university lecturer and an iman (an Islamic leadership position often associated with a mosque) of the al Qassam Mosque in the Gaza Strip. He is a member of the Palestinian National Council, the highest decision-making body within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 2010, experts believed it likely that Awda was residing in Damascus, Syria, where the PIJ was headquartered.

Awda was born on December 20, 1950 in the village of Jabalia (also spelled Jabalya). The city is located in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and is under the jurisdiction of the North Gaza Governorate. It is adjacent to the Jabalia refugee camp. After local schooling, Awda left Jabalia and was educated in Islamic and Arabic studies in Cairo, Egypt. During that period, he and Shaqaqi, due to a widening ideological gap between the Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded the more militant PIJ. Up until 1981, activities associated with [Page 79]the PIJ were conducted from Egypt, but in 1987 the PIJ was exiled to Lebanon, where its members received support and training from Hezbollah. In 1998 another move, this time self-initiated, was made to Damascus, the present location of the PIJ. Although the group's direct attacks against Israel have decreased since 2003, Israeli interests continue to be targets of interest. (PIJ's cofounder, Shaqaqi, was assassinated in 1995.)

Under regulations of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, Awda was identified, by the U.S. secretary of the treasury, as a Specially Designated Terrorist. He is also included on the Most Wanted Terrorists list issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and he has been indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) for probable acts involving international terrorist organizations. He is wanted for allegedly conducting the affairs of a known and designated terrorist organization through a wide variety of illegal activities.