BUCHAREST, Romania Gen. Nicolae Plesita, a die-hard Communist and ruthless chief of the Securitate secret police who arranged shelter in Romania for terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and was tried for bombing Radio Free Europe, has died, news reports said Wednesday. He was 80.

Plesita died Monday in Bucharest in a Romanian Intelligence Service hospital, where he was being treated for various illnesses including diabetes.

Plesita commanded the Securitates foreign intelligence service from 1980 to 1984. After the 1989 anti-communist revolt, Plesita continued to attract attention with his revelations from the Communist period and showed no remorse for having crushed anti-communist dissent.