Mohammed Oudeh, 73, the key planner of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes, died Saturday in Damascus, Syria.
Oudeh died of kidney failure a day after he was rushed to Damascus’ Andalus hospital, his daughter Hana Oudeh told The Associated Press.
Mohammed Oudeh, also known as Abu Daoud, did not participate in the Sept. 5, 1972, attack. He was a leader of “Black September,” an offshoot of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group that was established to avenge the expulsion of Palestinian guerrillas from Jordan.
Oudeh said he had no qualms about the operation because he considered the Israeli athletes, as military reservists, legitimate targets. But he said the intent was not to kill the Israelis — rather, to use them as bargaining chips to free more than 200 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Ilene Woods, 81, the voice of Cinderella in Walt Disney’s animated classic, has died.
Woods died Thursday of causes related to Alzheimer’s disease at a nursing home in Canoga Park, Calif., said her husband, Ed Shaughnessy.
At 18, Woods was a singer on radio in 1948 when, as a favor to Jerry Livingston and Mack David, she recorded songs for the upcoming feature.
“Two days later, Walt called,” Woods said in a 2005 interview with the Deseret News of Salt Lake City. “He wanted me to come over and have an interview. . . . We met and talked for a while, and he said, ‘How would you like to be Cinderella?’ “
Woods sang on the Perry Como and Arthur Godfrey shows in the ’50s.
Denver Post wire services
