The reports, relayed by Palestinian officials, left unclear whether he had been killed by a rival, slain by his Iraqi patrons or had taken his own life.

Abu Nidal, once branded the world's most dangerous terrorist by the U.S. State Department, struck from Paris to Pakistan in a ruthless campaign that targeted civilians and eliminated some of the closest associates of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

His most notorious - but not most lethal - attacks were twin assaults on the Israeli airline El Al's ticket counters at Rome and Vienna airports on Dec. 27, 1985. Eighteen people were killed and 120 wounded.

Abu Nidal, 65, a renegade who opposed any negotiations with Israel, was found dead in his apartment in the Iraqi capital three days ago, said two senior Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They said they believed Abu Nidal committed suicide, but did not explain how he could have shot himself several times. The Al-Ayyam newspaper, close to the Palestinian Authority, reported Monday that Abu Nidal was found shot in the head in his apartment by Iraqi forces who had come to arrest him.

Another Palestinian official said he would not be surprised if a Palestinian had killed Abu Nidal in revenge for assassinations of senior PLO figures.

The shooting death left many questions unanswered. Abu Nidal had collected many enemies, but he had also been ill - reportedly with heart disease and bone cancer - and that may have led him to commit suicide.

In Baghdad, the deputy Palestinian ambassador, Nejah Abdul-Rahman, said he had no information regarding what he described as "rumors" of Abu Nidal's death.

The spokesman for Abu Nidal's group, Ghanem Saleh, speaking in Lebanon, said he heard the report in the news media and had no comment.

(China Daily August 20, 2002)