Terrorism: Money Changes All Things, Including Loyalty

Ever since his arrest five months ago, there has been speculation about how infamous Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal ended up in Egyptian custody. Egyptian authorities refuse even to acknowledge they have the man whose terror organization killed or wounded some 900 people during the 1970s and '80s, but U.S. intelligence sources tell TIME they believe there's a mundane explanation at the heart of his capture--greed. Abu Nidal has assets in real estate and foreign bank accounts that the CIA estimated in 1990 was worth $200 million. But now Abu Nidal, who had been living in Libya, has cancer, and intelligence officials say his underlings had been squabbling over who will control the estate after he dies. It's suspected that one tipped off Egyptian authorities when Abu Nidal slipped into Cairo last July for treatment, to get an earlier shot at the loot.

--By Douglas Waller/Washington