I'm not sure what this means, but John Derbyshire of National Review and I couldn't help thinking of the same literary reference when Yasser Arafat died (scroll down to September 15 Iberian Notes):

For the sulfur pit. How did I feel about the death of Yasser Arafat? Permit me an indirect reply.

Jean Chiappe was a pre-WWII French fascist, who made his name as a repressive police chief in Paris during the early 1930s. When France fell to the Nazis, Chiappe went over to the puppet Vichy regime, who appointed him High Commissioner to Syria. While he was on his way to take up this position, Chiappe's plane was shot down by the British.

Hearing of this event, George Orwell noted in his diary (December 1, 1940): "That bastard Chiappe is cold meat. Everyone delighted…."