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Conflicting reports over Abu Nidal

Abu Nidal: no longer in Libya?

By Foreign Affairs correspondent, Fergus Nicoll in Cairo

The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Amr Moussa, has denied that Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian guerrilla charged with a variety of terrorist incidents during the 1980s, is in Egypt.

Mr Moussa said Abu Nidal had passed no where near Egypt's borders.

Earlier reports from Palestinian sources said Abu Nidal, 61, was in Cairo suffering from leukaemia having left his base in Libya early this month.

There have also been conflicting reports over whether he was in Egyptian custody - claims that have been rejected by both Egyptian officials and Abu Nidal's own organisation.

'Father of Struggle'

Abu Nidal or Father of Struggle, his real name is Sabri al-Banna, split from Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1974 and is believed to be responsible for the murders of several high ranking PLO officials.

He's also wanted for several incidents in the 1980s including the attacks on Rome and Vienna airports in December 1985 which killed 18 people and the bombing of an hotel in Khartoum in 1988 in which eight people died.