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New information has emerged on the mysterious death of Abu Nidal, the terrorist who ran afoul of Yasser Arafat in the 1980s, according to Geostrategy, the global intelligence news agency.
The information disputes the official Iraqi version that Sabri Al Bana, or Abu Nidal, committed suicide when he was arrested by Iraqi agents.
Arab intelligence sources provide the following account. They said Abu Nidal was killed by Iraqi agents in his Baghdad office several days before his death was reported on Aug. 19.
Iraqi agents worked fast. They were ordered to bring his body to an Iraqi hospital where Abu Nidal had been treated for skin cancer. There, Iraqi physicians and forensic experts touched up his body to make it looked like he had committed suicide.
Photographs were taken to appear as if he had blown his brains out to escape his Iraqi pursuers. An autopsy report was fabricated.
After four days of working with Abu Nidal's body, Iraqi authorities leaked to Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah that Abu Nidal had died. At first, Iraq denied that Abu Nidal had died. Then, Iraq's feared intelligence chief held a news conference to announce the results of Baghdad's investigation.
The intelligence sources are convinced that Abu Nidal ran afoul of Saddam Hussein. At that point, Saddam decided to have him killed and leaked information that he had been engaged in a series of plots against such Iraqi friends as Egypt and Syria. In contrast, Iraqi officials leaked charges that Abu Nidal had been working for Iraq's neighbor and enemy, Kuwait.
In short, the sources said, Saddam is desperate to make friends quickly that will somehow stop a U.S. attack on his regime. Abu Nidal's death was just one ploy, they said, and more tricks can be expected over the next few weeks.
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