Khaibar Brigades was a group which claimed responsibility for the kidnappings of three French citizens and two British citizens in Beirut in March 1985.  Khaibar Brigades eventually released all of its captives.  The group had never been heard of before, but it proved its claim by predicting the release of each of the abductees before each release occurred.  The group's victims were French Embassy employees Danielle Perez, Marcel Fontaine, and Marcel Canton, as well as British oil executive Brian Levick and Geoffrey Nash, a British metallurgist working for the Lebanese government.<p><br /><br />Khaibar Brigade's motivations are entirely unknown.  The group interrogated its victims to determine that they were not spies, and released the two British captives upon determining that they were not American.  All of the group's victims said that the Khaibar Brigades members were very polite and accommodating and did not seem particularly interested in the interrogations.  Because Khaibar Brigade's activity occurred during a period of widespread kidnappings of foreign nationals throughout Beirut, many people believed that the groups claiming responsibility were fronts for local criminal enterprises attempting to prove that they could operate in their rivals' territory.  Khaibar is the name of a Jewish town in Saudi Arabia which rejected the prophet Mohammed in the 7th century and was later overrun by Muslim forces.<br />

Khmer Communist Party, Party of Democratic Kampuchea

Originally sponsored by Vietnam (1950s); China provided assistance in 1980s; Sold access to timber to Thai loggers (1990s)

The Khmer Communist Party was established in Cambodia, 1951.   Originally sponsored by Vietnam, Khmer Communist Party was dedicated to the formation of a Cambodian socialist state.  The party planned to follow the Maoist approach of initiating widespread revolution through initial insurgent activities in the countryside.  By 1960, Khmer Communist Party was moving beyond merely expressing Maoist philosophies; the group was now actively engaging the Cambodian government in battle.  Utilizing terrorist tactics, the terrorist group would battle the Cambodian government from 1960 to 1975.  During this time, Cambodia's long-time leader Norodom Sihanouk dubbed the guerilla organization the <b>Khmer Rouge</b>.   <P><br /><br />Sihanouk had a complicated relationship with the Khmer Rouge.  While he sometimes allied himself with the group, at other times the insurgent group would challenge government forces.   In 1970, Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk's government, at which time Sihanouk found refuge in Beijing, China.  Any confusion regarding Khmer Rouge's complicated relationship with the Cambodian government ended once Lon Nol took power.  Khmer Rouge battled Lon Nol's government from 1970 to 1975.  On April 17, 1975, Khmer Rouge captured the capital city of Phnom Penh.  Khmer Rouge governed Cambodia from 1975 to 1978.  The terrorist organization-turned-state government enacted an infamously brutal campaign against Cambodian citizens.  Following the model of an agricultural-socialist state, Khmer Rouge emptied urban centers and forces the evacuees to work for agricultural communes.  The Cambodian people were severely mistreated and overworked under Khmer Rouge's rule.  In addition, the new government executed its educated citizens.  During Khmer Rouge's three and a half year rule, an estimated 1.5 million people were killed though executions, starvation, and brutal working conditions.