A Lebanese father, a Hungarian mother, an Italian half-sister, and a Palestinian husband; four of the people closest to Georgina Rizk in her life.
Surprisingly, the last of the aforementioned figures was one of the world’s most notorious terrorists; here’s the love story of Georgina Rizk and The Red Prince.
Ali Hassan Salameh was the chief of operations for the Palestinian Black September Organization, which was responsible for the Munich Olympics Massacre of 1972.
After the massacre, Salameh became an even bigger name on Israeli intelligence’s hitlist. During that time, he was having the time of his life in Beirut, where he was known as Red Prince, due to his luxurious lifestyle.
He was also known for his fashion style and charisma, two traits that attracted one of the most influential women in 1970s Lebanon and the Middle East: Georgina Rizk.
Rizk had been crowned Miss Universe in 1971, 7 years before she became 33-year-old Ali Hassan Salameh’s second wife (their date of marriage is disputed).
Due to the seeming absurdity of the two getting together, their marriage, while it lasted, was the subject of a lot of chatter in Beirut.
But their unlikely relationship was not the only curious aspect of their life together. During his stay in Beirut, Salameh was a double agent.
While it was denied by US officials, the Red Prince had reportedly a signed pact with America’s CIA.
In the secret agreement, which was made in 1970, Salameh guaranteed not to assassinate US citizens and embassy staff, and CIA agents, in Lebanon.
Robert (Bob) Ames was the name of the CIA agent tasked with drawing the promise out of the wanted terrorist. Reportedly, Ames and Salameh’s relationship evolved to more than just “business.”
As reported by the New York Post, the two became such good friends that Ames had a feud with his intelligence agency over a gun that he wanted to hand Salameh as a gift.
As part of his plan to “make Salameh comfortable” and guarantee his compliance with the CIA’s terms, Bob Ames organized the Salameh-Rizk honeymoon in 1978.
The couple spent their exceptional honeymoon between Hawaii resorts, CIA offices, and Disneyland in the United States.
The newly-weds returned to Beirut after their trip abroad, and Rizk was pregnant by then. She stayed in her flat in Beirut, and Salameh rented a separate flat in the capital.
6 months into her pregnancy, Georgina Rizk was struck by the news that her husband was assassinated.
In January 1979, Ali Hassan Salameh was boarding a convoy from his wife’s flat to his mother’s home to attend her birthday party when a 100kg bomb exploded on the way, killing 4 of his bodyguards and leaving him on the verge of death.
He was rushed to the American University of Beirut hospital, where he died on the operating table less than an hour later. It was the Israeli Mossad that assassinated him.
As for Agent Ames, he was also killed in Beirut, 4 years later, in the 1983 US Embassy bombing.
It’s worth noting that Salameh’s conservative Muslim background prompted Georgina Rizk to quit her career in modeling and show business.
Sources close to the Lebanese socialite have said that despite her marriage to the shoot-on-sight militant, she had no attachment to his cause or organization. Apparently, the curious couple’s sole motive to be and stay together was love.
