Frederick Forsyth’s novel The Day of the Jackal (1971) is not based on Carlos the Jackal (Ilich Ramírez Sánchez). Instead the nickname was inspired by the book. Forsyth’s thriller was based on rumors of an actual attempt to assassinate French Pres. Charles de Gaulle. The suspected plot had no connection to Ramírez, who was then known simply as “Carlos.” However, during a search of one of Carlos’s London safe houses in the early 1970s, a journalist found a copy of The Day of the Jackal, and Carlos was soon dubbed “Carlos the Jackal” by the media.
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