Georges Watin, `The Jackal' In De Gaulle Murder Attempt

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Georges Watin, whose attempt to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle was portrayed in the novel and movie "The Day of the Jackal," was buried yesterday.

Mr. Watin, 71, died Saturday of a heart attack at his home in Asuncion. A small group of friends attended the burial at a cemetery outside the capital.

Algerian-born, Mr. Watin fought against the Algerians' war for independence and opposed de Gaulle's decision in July 1962 to grant the North African land its sovereignty.

On Aug. 22, 1962, bullets shattered the windows of de Gaulle's limousine as it drove through a Paris suburb, but the president was unscathed.

The assassination attempt was the basis for Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel "The Day of the Jackal," which was made into a movie.

Mr. Watin, a member of the right-wing underground Secret Army Organization, or OAS, was condemned to death in absentia in 1963 but pardoned by an amnesty law in 1968.

After fleeing to Switzerland and later to Spain, he settled in Paraguay in 1965.

In his last years, Mr. Watin lived in a small house on an allowance from the French consulate. He suffered from arthritis and had been bedridden since undergoing surgery last year.

Mr. Watin told the newspaper ABC Color last month that he did not regret his attempt to kill de Gaulle. "I am still a nationalist. And he (de Gaulle) was an s.o.b.," he said.