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"We know that Saddam Hussein has, over the years, been one of the top state sponsors of terrorism for nearly 20 years," Cheney said. "We've had this recent weird incident where the head of the Abu Nidal organization, one of the world's most noted terrorists, was killed in Baghdad. The announcement was made by the head of Iraqi intelligence. The initial announcement said he'd shot himself. When they dug into that, though, he'd shot himself four times in the head. And speculation has been, that, in fact, somehow, the Iraqi government or Saddam Hussein had him eliminated to avoid potential embarrassment by virtue of the fact that he was in Baghdad and operated in Baghdad. So it's a very complex picture to try to sort out." - Vice President Dick Cheney on 'Meet the Press,' September 2002

1999 approx : (IRAQ : ABU NIDAL BACK IN BAGHDAD AFTER BEING BASED IN SUDAN) It was reported that Abu Nidal went to Iraq for cancer treatment (which speaks volumes about his predicament since, to put it delicately, Iraq ain't Switzerland). Apparently it was thought that, for all the work he had done for the regime in the past, the Iraqis "owed" him. And so he set up an office with a guard and an apartment- "An "Apparent" Suicide : Terrorist Abu Nidal dies in Iraq after he shoots himself in the head. Four times." by Victorino Matus , The Weekly Standard, 09/10/2002 12:00:00 AM

1999 : (ABU NIDAL IS BACK IN BAGHDAD) Throughout all of these years, Nidal also found himself moving from place to place, like an ordinary mercenary on the run. He went from the West Bank to Saudi Arabia, then to Jordan, Sudan, and Baghdad. In 1983, Iraq expelled him and he landed in Syria. Then Libya. Then Egypt. And finally back to Baghdad around 1999. - "An "Apparent" Suicide : Terrorist Abu Nidal dies in Iraq after he shoots himself in the head. Four times." by Victorino Matus , The Weekly Standard, 09/10/2002 12:00:00 AM

1999 : (CLINTON ADMINISTRATION, SUDAN'S OFFER TO TURN OVER BIN LADEN) The Clinton admin.spurned Sudanese help on two other occasions as well. In 1999, MSNBC.com reported that Sudan offered to turn over to the US two men who arrived on an airliner from Nairobi the day the U.S. Embassy there was bombed. The US declined, and the men were allowed to travel on to Pakistan. Why would the US be so resistant to help from Khartoum on such serious issues? In part, it was the belief that Sudan was playing a role in Iraq's chemical weapons program.

"And speculation has been, that, in fact, somehow, the Iraqi government or Saddam Hussein had him eliminated to avoid potential embarrassment by virtue of the fact that he was in Baghdad and operated in Baghdad."

Thanks, Piasa. I tend to believe that this account is correct. Regardless of how Abu Nidal met his death, Saddam knew he was living in Baghdad and was, at the very least, guilty of harboring a wanted terrorist.