Article: Abu Nidal's roots hard to dig up

Trying to trace the world's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Nidal, alias Sabri el-Banna, back to his Palestinian roots is as difficult as pinpointing his whereabouts today.

The effort was not without a mite of compensation in fantasy, though. It made me feel as if I were a detective - following obscure leads, interviewing bizarre individuals, visiting off-beat places.

The search began in Jaffa, until 1948 one of the Arab world's liveliest cities, since then a rundown section of Greater Tel Aviv. Nowadays, Jaffa is populated mainly by Jews. Only a few thousand Arabs, most of whom moved in from villages that don't exist anymore, are left.

"That's where he used to live," said a white-haired ...

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