Seale, Patrick. Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire. New York: Random House,
1992. 340 pages.
Patrick Seale is one of Britain's respected Middle East specialists,
with 30 years of experience and several books to his credit. This one is
based largely on interviews with defectors from Abu Nidal's organization
to Arafat's Fatah group during the 1980s. When Random House released it in
February 1992, the Washington Post headline read, "Book Alleges French,
Saudi Deals With Abu Nidal." A new State Department report had blamed Abu
Nidal for more than 100 terrorist attacks since 1974 that resulted in the
deaths of over 280 people, and since Washington boasts a thriving counter-
terrorism industry (half of it government-sponsored and the other half
self-appointed), any new angle on Mr. Big naturally draws a headline. This
one referred to Seale's contention that between 1976 and 1988, Abu Nidal
extorted about $50 million from France, the Saudis, and other Western
enemies, who found it less expensive to pay him off than to fight him.
The major allegation in Seale's book, the evidence for which is
mainly circumstantial, is that Israel's Mossad has penetrated Abu Nidal's
organization, and encourages their activities in order to make Palestinians
look bad. The Post article is skeptical. Experts can buy the penetration
part, but doubt that Mossad would see it as in their interests to assist
Abu Nidal in selecting targets and carrying out actions.
ISBN 0-679-40066-4
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