On December 21, 1975, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez aka Carlos the Jackal led a six-person team in an attack of the meeting of OPEC leaders; they took more than 60 hostages and killed three: an Austrian policeman, an Iraqi OPEC employee and a member of the Libyan delegation. Carlos demanded that the Austrian authorities read a communiqué about the Palestinian cause on Austrian radio and television networks every two hours. To avoid the threatened execution of a hostage every 15 minutes, the Austrian government agreed and the communiqué was broadcast as requested.
Sánchez is widely regarded as one of the most famous
political terrorist of his era. When he joined the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1970, he was given the code name
“Carlos" because of his South American roots. After several bungled
bombings, Sánchez achieved notoriety for the 1975 raid on the OPEC headquarters
in Vienna, which killed three people. This was followed by a string of attacks
against Western targets. For many years he was among the most wanted
international fugitives. Carlos was dubbed "The Jackal" by The
Guardian after one of its correspondents reportedly spotted the 1971 novel The
Day of the Jackal near some of the fugitive's belongings.
In 1994, Carlos was scheduled to undergo a minor
testicular operation in a hospital in Sudan. Two days after the operation,
Sudanese officials told him that he needed to be moved to a villa for
protection from an assassination attempt and would be given personal
bodyguards. One night later, the bodyguards went into his room while he slept,
tranquilized and tied him, and took him from the villa. On August 14, 1994,
Sudan transferred him to French agents, who flew him to Paris for trial. He was
charged with the 1975 murders. The trial began on December 12, 1997 and for his
part, Sánchez denied the 1975 killings, saying they were orchestrated by
Mossad, the Israeli secret service, and condemning Israel as a terrorist
nation. During the trial he said, "When one wages war for 30 years, there
is a lot of blood spilled - mine and others. But we never killed anyone for
money, but for a cause - the liberation of Palestine." He was eventually
found guilty and sentenced to life in prison along with two others.
Michael Thomas Barry is the author
of Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California
1849-1949, it can be purchased from Amazon or Barnes and Noble through the
following links:
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