Career
On 20 February 1973 he was arrested and spent 73 days in solitary confinement for his criticism of conditions under Ian Smith"s government and his coverage of the guerrilla war. His sentence of two years hard labour for revealing official secrets was commuted on appeal after an international outcry. As their Asia Correspondent he also covered the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from on the ground, experiences that inform his last novel, Scimitar.
He subsequently returned to London to become their deputy news editor until his untimely death of a heart attack at the age of 38.
Niesewand is credited with originating terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez"s "Jackal" alias: "The nickname the Guardian reporter Peter Niesewand had inspired by mentioning the Forsyth thriller found along with the arms cache in Angela Otaola’s bedsit was a perfect fit. Derogatory yet with just a hint of admiration for the cunning of the canine sometimes known as “the lion’s provider”." (in Colin Smith, "Carlos - Portrait of a Terrorist").
