Beirut, Lebanon, Sept 03: Abu Nidal, the once-feared terrorist who died last month under mysterious circumstances, was quietly buried in Baghdad in the presence of a few relatives and an Iraqi intelligence officer, according to a statement from his group today.
Iraqi intelligence handed over Abu Nidal's body on Thursday to one of his relatives in Baghdad, the Fatah-revolutionary council statement said. Abu Nidal was buried the same day "in the presence of a handful of his family members, and the participation of an Iraqi intelligence officer to make sure he was buried," it added. The statement said Abu Nidal had wanted to be buried in the West Bank town of Nablus "but several Arab and Zionist Intelligenc agencies prevented that."
On August 21, the head of Iraqi intelligence Tahir Haboush told reporters that Abu Nidal, whose real name is Sabri al Banna, ended his life with a gunshot to the head rather than face an Iraqi court for allegedly communicating with a foreign country. The official did not say when Abu Nidal died.
Atef Abu Bakr, the group's former spokesman and close aide to Abu Nidal, told the respected London-based Arabic newspaper al Hay that Abu Nidal once told a group meeting that his organization was behind the lockerbie bombing.

Bureau Report