We do not know for sure whether one of the world's most notorious terrorists, Illich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, ever saw the movie The Day of the Jackal (Pearl, 9.30pm) but there is some evidence that he read the original book. It was after a copy of Frederick Forsyth's bestseller was found in his Paris flat that he got his nickname, and not because any of the events in the movie are attributed to him.
The movie is based on the ill-fated attempts of a group of aggrieved white Algerians, who were so enraged by French president Charles de Gaulle's decision to give Algeria back to the Algerians that they decided to kill him.
In real life, the assassination was a badly organised disaster.
In the movie, a young Edward Fox as the hitman is much more competent, but not competent enough to outwit the French police and various other international law agencies who are determined to track him down.
If Sanchez had been in charge of the assassination de Gaulle would quite likely have been killed.
Although his recent performance in a French courtroom, where he was given two life sentences for the murder of French agents in 1975, made him look something of a buffoon, there is no doubt that in his time Sanchez was the most feared terrorist in the world.
