Iraq's deputy prime minister, Mr Tareq Aziz, confirmed last night that Abu Nidal, the Palestinian terrorist living in Baghdad had indeed killed himself.
Earlier, a senior source in Baghdad said Nidal shot himself on Friday after he was accused of conspiring to undermine the Iraqi government. The unnamed source said he had been living under house arrest in Iraq after using a false passport to enter the country.
Prior to Mr Aziz's announcement, a spokesman for Nidal's Fateh Revolutionary Council insisted that Nidal, the nom de guerre for Sabri al-Banna, was "not dead".
Although the original report of his death was based on information provided by Abu Nidal's relatives to a Palestinian newspaper in Ramallah, the anonymous spokesman claimed that the news was "fabricated by enemy intelligence agencies" of Israel and the US.
The Palestinian daily newspaper al-Ayyam reported on Monday that Nidal had been found dead in his Baghdad flat after committing suicide. The Qatari satellite television network al-Jazeerah agreed that Nidal had died but disputed the manner of his death.
Quoting "well-informed Palestinian sources" it reported that an Iraqi security agent tried to arrest Abu Nidal, who either shot himself or was assassinated.
Another publication, the London-based, Saudi-owned al-Sharq al-Awsat reported yesterday that he was killed by Iraqi security agents after Baghdad discovered he had renewed an old connection with the Kuwaiti authorities.
The paper quoted a Palestinian source who claimed Nidal and four colleagues were surprised when armed men burst into his flat and he was killed in an exchange of fire.
The Iraqis have reportedly arrested members of his group and are rounding up others. The paper claimed that Nidal and 45 of his supporters relocated to Iraq in late 1988.
