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Nidal planned to oust Saddam

28 August 2002: The Palestinian terrorist, Abu Nidal, was working for the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, for the last four years and was plotting a coup against Iraqi president Saddam Hussain at the behest of Western powers, top diplomats said.

Nidal was found dead on 20 August in a Baghdad hotel and first reports said he had committed suicide and later ones that he was murdered.

Security experts revealed that Nidal was helped by Mossad on several occasions and allowed to travel with senior Israeli officials as a shoemaker.

Nidal has been accused of masterminding nearly 900 killings of nationals of about 20 countries.

Diplomats said that Nidal possessed nine passports including those issued by Belgium, Austria and Hungary and several carried multi-entry visas valid till 2008.

Nidal was extradited to France in the late 1980s for crimes committed as member of the Palestinian terror group, Fateh Revolutionary Council, but could not be convicted due to lack of evidence.

Mossad secretly moved Nidal to Mainz, Germany, in October 2000 for medical treatment but soon shifted him to Sydney, Australia, where he has no criminal record.

Diplomats say that British and Israeli agencies persevered with Nidal in Sydney to turn against Saddam Hussain.

Nidal apparently agreed and moved to Alexandria, Egypt, and then sneaked into Iraq to plot against the Iraqi dictator.

Iraqi intelligence got wind of his plans and tried to neutralise him.

Security experts said that Nidal was either killed by Iraqi agencies or committed suicide to escape capture.