BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Secretary-general of the Syria-based Palestinian faction Fatah al-Intifada Col. Said al-Muragha, better known as Abu Mousa, died Tuesday in Damascus at 85.

An official in the movement told reporters that Abu Mousda died Tuesday morning in a hospital in Damascus.

Fatah al-Intifada was founded in 1983 after Abu Mousa broke away from the major Fatah movement. The split was during the PLO’s participation in the civil war in Lebanon due to differences between Abu Mousa and late Fatah leader Yasser Arafat.

The movement was not a member of the PLO.