Posted on 08/19/2002 7:10:38 AM PDT by 1bigdictator
Abu Nidal Dead Abu Nidal, up until recently one of the world's most wanted terrorists, was found dead this morning in Baghdad. He was responsible for the Rome and Vienna airport murders in December 1985, the slaughter of worshippers in Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul, the Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking in Karachi in September 1986, and many other attacks. All in all, Abu Nidal was accused of having killed or injured almost 900 people in attacks in 20 countries since 1974, was wanted in the U.S., Great Britain and Italy, and was even condemned to death by the PLO, which he left in 1972. His body was found in his apartment with a pistol next to it, and he was known to have been suffering from a serious disease.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Abu Nidal, the Palestinian renegade whose name became a byword for international terrorism, was found dead in his Baghdad apartment, Palestinian officials said Monday.
Abu Nidal's body was found three days ago with several bullet wounds, and the assumption is he committed suicide, said two senior Palestinian officials in Ramallah who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Palestinian officials said they received word of Abu Nidal's death from sources in Baghdad.
The death was reported Monday in the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam.
In Baghdad, the deputy Palestinian ambassador, Nejah Abdul-Rahman, said he had no information regarding what he described as rumors of Abu Nidal's death.
Abu Nidal spokesman Ghanem Saleh, speaking in Lebanon, said he had only heard the report from news media and had no immediate comment.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, Abu Nidal's brother said he had no information to indicate his brother had died in Baghdad - but added he had not heard from him in 38 years. Mohammed al-Banna, a fruit and vegetable merchant, told APTN it was not the first time rumors have circulated concerning the death of his brother, whose real name is Sabri al-Banna.
Abu Nidal has been one of the key figure in Middle East terror for the past quarter century and has often changed sides. Abu Nidal was born in Jaffa in 1937 when the area was part of British-governed Palestine. The family later moved to Nablus, and he left the area to organize opposition to the establishment of Israel.
The shadowy guerrilla masterminded the killings of both Jews and fellow Palestinians who opposed him. He flitted from one lair to another to avoid capture and switched backers from Iraq to Syria to Libya over the years. He is reported to run an international extortion racket running into millions of dollars, shaking down governments with threats of attacks. He has been accused of dealing in arms and of being a hit man for his various Arab backers.
The chain-smoking schoolteacher-turned-terrorist has struck targets from Paris to Pakistan. His followers bombed American airliners, mowed down travelers in airports, machine-gunned sidewalk cafes and synagogues and blew up hotels. His most famous - but not most fatal - attacks were twin assaults on the Israeli airline El Al's ticket counters at Rome and Vienna airports on Dec. 27, 1985. Eighteen people were killed and 120 wounded.
My question is: How do you shoot yourself several times?
Howell Raines and the New York Times, I'm sure, are mourning his death.
Maybe a machine gun? Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.
I suppose it would be possible if the victim/assailant were using an automatic weapon, something terrorists have been known to use.
One down, only God knows how many to go.
The eighth hole finally did the job.
That was my first thought. But who signed the calling card? Mossad or American special forces? Just curious.....fsf
'Zactly!
Pistols can kill the seriously-ill by proximity, apparently.
Arkancide?
In a related development, the European governments said that because Abu Nidal is now dead, they are really, really sure that Iraq is no longer harboring terrorists, and for that reason the U.S. should abandon plans for invading Iraq as part of its war on terror.
I think that is exactly what someone was trying to prove and did.
Nah. I think his friends will be joining him shortly.
And He ain't tellin', so we gots to go find 'em for ourselves.
In the dictionary, I think Arafatricide is listed right before Arkanacide.
Feels like a hit to me...
Mossad also has agents who grew up speaking Arabic to their neighbors and can fit in perfectly in any Arab country.
I doubt we have anything comparable, although I did once meet a SEAL of Mexican ancestry who had been trained in speaking Arabic and might have been able to pull this off.
-ccm
Then again, he could pop back up like Bob Hope: "I'm not dead yet!"
Let's hope that is about to change! fsf
I agree, a hit is the most likely scenario.
I have seen the suggestions that Moussad or Special Forces could be responsible. Were that the case, I would think that the Iraqi regime (He was after all, living in Bagdad) would be shouting from the rooftops about how he was "A Martyr of Islam".
Since the report by the government controlled press said it was a suicide, we may safely assume that he was killed by the Iraqi regime. The fact that it was reported that he was shot several times in an apparent "suicide" is a none too subtle message to those in the terrorist community what reward awaits those who would oppose Saddam Hussein.
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