Posted on 08/26/2002 1:29:14 PM PDT by kattracks
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had terrorist leader Abu Nidal killed because he is feeling the pressure of possible U.S. action to topple his regime, according to the respected British publication Jane's .
Abu Nidal's Fatah Revolutionary Council, at one time considered by the State Department as "the most dangerous terrorist organization in existence," was responsible for terror attacks in 20 countries, which killed more than 200 people and wounded around 700.
Theories about his death have abounded since it was reported last week in a Palestinian newspaper that the leader of FRC, Sabri al-Bana, a.k.a. Abu Nidal, was found dead in his Baghdad apartment.
Officially, Iraq said that Abu Nidal killed himself when Iraqi agents came to arrest him but other sources, citing reports of multiple gunshot wounds found on the body, have indicated that he was murdered.
"The best explanation is that the Iraqi dictator is now feeling the pressure from the ongoing U.S. deliberations over a potential invasion to topple his regime," said a report from Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism .
"In any such adventure, the anti-Saddam elements within Iraq would most likely play an important role in turning the tide against Saddam. He (Saddam) has therefore moved to eradicate those dangerous elements, both as a pre-emptive measure to protect his position and as an example to other prospective internal enemies still at large," Jane's said.
According to the report, Abu Nidal had a propensity for survival rather than loyalty. He was accused of having sided with Kuwait against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.
"Any suggestion of him plotting against the regime would have been enough to sign
his death warrant," the report said.
Abu Nidal reportedly killed himself when Iraqi intelligence agents who accused him of plotting with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to overthrow the Iraqi regime confronted him. An Iraqi official was also quoted as saying that plans concerning an upcoming U.S. attack on Iraq were found in his house.
But counter-terrorism expert Ely Karmon, of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, said that while such a case is possible, it would not have been easy for him to meet with foreign agents. Karmon said Saddam Hussein is more likely to have killed Abu Nidal as a warning to other potential opponents.
"I don't see what he could do," Karmon said. "He was under the umbrella of the Iraqi intelligence... He was so closely monitored he [couldn't] make such contacts."
It could be that his death was intended to serve as a warning against any potential internal opposition of what their fate would be if they decided to oppose Saddam, he said.
The Iraqis may have thought he was "already too old to be effective" and therefore found the right moment to kill him, he added.
Another theory was that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, whose relationship with Saddam has improved during the intifadah, asked Iraq to get rid of Abu Nidal.
Abu Nidal broke from Arafat's Fatah faction in 1974 and was responsible for the assassination of top PLO leaders, including Arafat's deputy.
But Karmon said he does not believe the Palestinians would have been so quick to leak the story to the media had that been the case.
According to a report in the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, Abu Nidal was killed because he refused to train al-Qaeda fighters, who had fled Afghanistan. He also refused to carry out attacks against the U.S. and its allies, the report said.
A U.S. official was quoted as saying that he had "paid the price for not cooperating with Saddam's wishes."
Whatever the case, Karmon said it exposes the nature of the Iraqi regime.
"It proves again the character of the Iraqi regime that even if it was not directly involved, the regime has a lot to hide," Karmon said.
At any rate, anything that turns these people against each other is fine with me.
Maybe if we keep the pressure up Saddam will commit suicide.
OBTW: I saw a tape of Nidal's body being carted out - he was grossly obese.
More like dimples in mush.
So he had a copy of the New York Times, so what?
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