Abdul Rafai, is the main antagonist of the 1986 film The Delta Force.
He was portrayed by the late Robert Forster
Biography[]
Alongside his right-hand man Mustafa, Rafai boarded American Travelways Flight 282 in Athens, Greece with the intentions of hijacking it, while his accomplice Jafar was arrested for protesting to be let on the flight as it was full and his ticket was a standby one. Soon after takeoff, he made his way to the lavatory, where an accomplice posing as a mechanic had left firearms and a grenade for them.
He and Mustafa announce the hijack, taking the plane by surprise. Abdul then forces chief purser Ingrid Harding to let them in the cockpit and orders the plane to be flown to Beirut, Lebanon. After forcing the first class passengers to economy class, Mustafa found a ring with Hebrew text on it and reports the discovery to Abdul. He then orders Ingrid to collect all the passengers' passports so that they could segregate the Jewish passengers from the non-Jews, to which Ingrid reluctantly complies. One by one, Jews are called to first class, with a Catholic priest, William O'Malley joining them in solidarity. In addition, Abdul also calls for the three United States Navy personnel seated in economy class; he then tortures one of them, Tom Hale.
Per Rafai's orders, the plane landed in Beirut, where the Jewish hostages and two of the three Navy divers were transported off of the plane. More of the terrorists' comrades come on board. They departed for Algiers, where women and children were released and a newly-released Jafar reunited with him. In response to an attempted siege by the Delta Force, Rafai kills Tom Hale and dumps his body out of the plane in a further show of force before they took off back to Beirut.
After landing, Rafai traveled to the Lebanese countryside wherein he protests and argues with his leader, Jamil, about eliminating a Greek Orthodox Monk, Father Nicolas, to which the latter objects, as he deems Nicolas to be a friend and someone who does not pose a threat. Unknown to them, Nicolas was a Mossad agent providing intelligence to the Delta Force. Later, Rafai and his comrades enter the church where they caught Nicolas transmitting messages to the Israeli Mossad. Rafai has him arrested but in an escape attempt finally killed Father Nicolas.
While taking the hostages to Damascus, Syria, Rafai notices Delta Force Major Scott McCoy blocking their path at the Lebanon-Syria border. The Major fires missiles and eliminates the terrorist escorts, forcing the latter to order a retreat to Beirut. A massive battle takes place wherein Rafai gravely injures Delta Force member Pete Peterson in a firefight. With his driver dead, Rafai drives to a neighborhood and takes refuge in an abandoned home wherein he is chased down by McCoy, who corners him and engages in a vicious melee, which fractures Rafai's left arm.
Despite his injures, Rafai makes one attempt to kill McCoy in his vehicle but the latter fires a missile to the limousine, killing Rafai for good.
Trivia[]
- He is heavily modeled on TWA Flight 847 hijack leader Mohammed Hamadi, as The Delta Force is partially based on the incident.