EmergencyNet News Service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 20:00CDT

Carlos Captured; Revolutionary Terrorist
By: Clark Staten, ERRI Analyst

Chicago, IL, October 10, 1994 (ENN)-- Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, commonly known as "Carlos the Jackal," has reportedly been captured and imprisoned in a Paris jail. He is charged with the 1975 murders of two French Counter-Terrorist operatives, who were killed while investigating attacks on Israeli El Al planes at Paris' Orly Airport. Sanchez was reportedly captured in Sudan, on Sunday, and turned over to French authorities, who had previously sentenced him "in absentia" to life in prison for the killings of the two intelligence agents.

"Carlos" is one of the best known "revolutionary terrorists" known in the history of modern insurgent movements. He reportedly has worked for Mohamar Qaddaffi of Libya, Saddam Hussien of Iraq, President Assad of Syria, Fidel Castro of Cuba, George Habash and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Italian Red Brigade, Columbia's M-19 Movement, the Baader-Meinholf Gang, and any number of other "Communist and Socialist" employers. His resume' is almost unparalleled in the exploits of terrorists of the last three decades. According to anti-terrorist analysts, the only international terrorist of greater repute is probably Abu Nidal(Sabri Banna).

Carlos, a 1969 graduate of Moscow's Patrice Lamumba University, has been tied to "Communist revolutionary movements" since he became a 14-year-old member of the Communist party in Venezuela. His father, a wealthy Venezuelan Communist party leader, was so dedicated to Leninist/Marxist theory and practice that he named his three sons Vladamir, Ilich, and Lenin. In his teens, Carlos was allegedly given guerrilla training in Cuba. By the age of twenty, Carlos reportedly had moved to Jordan and was being trained in weapons and explosive usage by hard-core members of the PFLP commando. Shortly thereafter, he began what has turned out to be an infamous career as an international "pay for hire" terrorist.

Although some intelligence reports link "Carlos" to the 1972 Massacre of eleven (11) Israeli athletes in Germany, most counter-terrorist analysts suspect that the Olympic massacre was master-minded by the Black September organization and Abu Nidal. It is more likely that in 1971 and early 1972, "Carlos" was fighting and learning combat tactics in a guerrilla war against King Hussein, in Jordan. It is also possible that "The Jackal" had begun acting as an intelligence agent or informer for the KGB.

By 1973, however, his terror activities had begun in earnest. He has publicly admitted to his 1973 assassination attempt on a British Millionaire named Edward Sieff, who was a well-known Jewish businessman and owner of the Marks and Spencer stores in London. Within the next two years, he was believed involved in the takeover of the French Embassy at the Hague, the killing of the two French Intelligence agents for which he has been recently captured, and a 1976 takeover/kidnapping of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria. Later in 1976, he was involved in a Skyjacking, that led to the now famous Entebbe raid by Israeli commandos.

In the late seventies and early eighties, "Carlos" was blamed for any number of skyjackings, bombings, and machine gun/grenade attacks on British, French and Israeli targets. He became a master of disguises and was known to have obtained any number of false identities, complete with passports and credit cards. Adding to his reputation as a "terrorist master-mind" was the fact that, even if no real evidence could be produced to link him to an atrocity, it was often blamed on him, out of convenience or ineptitude. But, regardless of embellishments, the reality of "Carlos" was described by a Saudi Arabian Oil Minister, who had been kidnapped during the 1975 OPEC takeover. "Carlos...is a ruthless terrorist who operates with cold-blooded, surgical precision," according to Ahmed Zaki Yamani. Lauded by some as a "professional killer" with 'cool, deliberate actions", he also has been described by others as a "bumbling psychotic who shoots people in the face, and is extremely lucky." Whether luck, or ruthless brutality, "Carlos" has reveled in the limelight of his deadly performance.

In 1982 and 1983, "Carlos" is suspected of several bombings in Paris, France, resulting in deaths of at least thirteen (13) people and the wounding of one-hundred and fifty (150) more. In the mid-1980's, it is believed that he may have also participated in the planning and execution of several operations against Israel, operating out of Syria and Lebanon. He is reported to have consulted with Col. Mohammar Qaddaffi and even Saddam Hussein, during their conflicts with the United States.

"Carlos" unexpectedly dropped from sight during the late 1980's and there were even reports of his death. Unconfirmed reports have placed him in Mexico, Columbia, and Damascus, Syria during recent years. The end of the "Cold War" and the collapse of the U.S.S.R., may have placed him in a situation with few sponsors, and little ideological motivation to continue his terror campaign. In recent months, he may have even been kicked out of Syria, as they warm their relations with Israel and move closer to a peace accord with one of their oldest enemies. "The Jackal" may have found himself with few safe places to go.

Apparently, Sudan was one of them, or so he thought. Even they, however, we not willing to provide the beastly killer with a refuge. They arrested "Carlos" and turned him over to French authorities, who had previously notified the Sudanese of his presence in Sudan. In the end, even the Sudanese, who are thought to be moving closer to a "fundamentalist-revolutionary-moslem" government, have decided to turn over the infamous "Jackal" and maybe win some eventual favor in world opinion.

One question remains. Will the arrest and detention of "Carlos" have any real effect on the future number or savageness of terrorist events? Most counter-terrorist experts agree...probably not. The face of terrorism has changed and even the death of "Carlos" couldn't prevent further violence.

(c) EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1994, All rights reserved.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Clark Staten is a veteran emergency services manager, having served more than 18 years with a major metropolitan fire department. He is the author of "The Emergency Response Guide to Terrorism" and is the Executive Director of the Emergency Response & Research Institute, an emergency service 'think tank', based in Chicago, IL

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