From
the mid-1970s to his overthrow and execution in December 1989, Romanian
Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu waged a vengeful war against the Romanian
Broadcast Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich. His
regime fought with intimidation, threats, and physical attack; the
radios countered with the 'truth' in the programs broadcast to Romania.
Although
various soviet bloc intelligence services had planned over the years to
bomb the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich,
there was only one physical attack: the bomb attack on February 21, 1981
-- one of the most politically sensitive yet little-known operations
of "Carlos the Jackal." This was his only known American target. Carlos
called his terrorist operations Tangos; this would be his Munich Tango.
February
21, 1981, at 9:50 p.m., a massive explosion in the center of Munich was
heard throughout the city. A team of four Euro-terrorists, under the
direction of the infamous "Carlos the Jackal" in
Budapest, had just set off a powerful bomb, estimated to be about 30
pounds (c. 15 kilograms) of the Romanian-made explosive nitropenta.
Just
above the area where the terrorists placed the bomb, three employees of
RFE/RL's Czechoslovak Broadcast were busily preparing a news program
scheduled for 10 p.m. that was never aired. At 9:50 p.m., one employee
picked up the ringing telephone and said. "Hello." No one answered. The
employee tried again, "Hello." The room exploded into rubble. The time
was later confirmed by a German agency to monitor earthquakes; the
bombing was so powerful it registered on the equipment. Four
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty employees were seriously injured: Maria
Pulda, Rudolf Skukalek, Allan Antalis, Czechoslovak Broadcast
Department, and Ingeborg Eberl, telephone operator. Damage to the
building exceeded $2,000,000. In the history of the radio stations, this
was the only direct attack on the RFE/RL headquarters building.
The
bomb's concussion caused extensive damage and terror in the immediate
area. Windows were shattered in fifty percent of RFE/RL's offices (more
than 170) and in apartment buildings more than one hundred yards
(meters) away from RFE/RL.
Glen
Ferguson, then president of RFE/RL, sent out a message to the staff. In
part, it read, "Four of our employees are injured, our building is
damaged, but RFE/RL will continue to be heard."
Major
international and West German media covered the Saturday night bomb
attack against RFE/RL in the Sunday and Monday editions. West German
television and radio began covering the account at 11 p.m. Saturday and
continued coverage throughout Sunday and Monday. Soviet and East
European media also carried the story starting Sunday morning.
Although
the evidence has long been there and the perpetrators identified, no
one has been and will most likely never be prosecuted for this terrorist
act. Carlos is in jail for two life terms in Paris. Of the four
Euro-terrorists in Munich, Johannes Weinrich is in prison for life in Berlin, Bruno Brequet has
disappeared (presumed dead), one of the Basque terrorists died in Cuba,
and the other was never identified. The Romanian general who ordered
the attack died, as did the Romanian intelligence officer who
coordinated the attack with Carlos.
Carlos used a safe house in Budapest, Hungary, for the bomb planning, preparations,
and communications. Based on monitored telephone calls, a top-secret
summary report on October 3, 1980, by Department III/II-8 of the
Hungarian Interior Ministry, identified RFE/RL Romanian Service employee
Emil Georgescu, Romanian King-in-Exile Michael, Paul Goma, and other
émigrés as targets for Carlos. The attack on Emil Georgescu was supposed
to be accomplished by an attack on the Romanian Section of Radio Free
Europe. Then, the terrorists would take "secret" documents from the
building.
Also,
Carlos was assigned to break into or destroy the monitoring station
outside Munich in Schleissheim and obtain "secret" documents. In return,
the Romanians gave Carlos thirty-four Italian, German, French, and
Austrian passports, plus Romanian diplomatic passports for Carlos,
Johannes Weinrich ("Steve"), and Magdalena Kopp.
There
was another planning session in Budapest on October 14, 1980, when the
terrorists discussed existing surveillance reports detailing how the
RFE/RL building appeared Saturday night. Someone, evident from the
discussion, had already observed the RFE/RL headquarters building at 9
p.m. and 1 a.m. The surveillance report showed that about forty percent
of the rooms had lights on, and the observer estimated that twenty
percent of the employees worked at 9 p.m. When the bomb exploded
Saturday at 9:50 p.m., only forty employees were in the building, out of
a staff of almost one thousand. Their surveillance report was wrong in
the estimated numbers of employees.
Carlos
decided that his team would go to Munich in November and wait for the
explosives, weapons, and other logistics necessary to carry out the
attack. Further surveillance also would be required.
On
December 19, 1980, in Budapest, Hungary, Carlos and German terrorist
Johannes Weinrich had a heated discussion about the bombing of
RFE/R--their conversation was covertly monitored and recorded by the
Hungarian Intelligence Service. Carlos said he wanted to do it on
Christmas Eve or Christmas day as no one would expect a bomb attack on
those days. Weinrich agreed in principle but said they were not ready,
as they did not have the required cars, and Carlos suggested New Year's
Eve.
Weinrich
then told Carlos that when he and the Swiss terrorist Bruno Breguet
("Luca") were doing surveillance of RFE/RL earlier that month, he
stopped urinating against one of the trees on the RFE/RL grounds. Two
guards walked in his direction and saw him, but they did not say
anything and kept going. He noticed that one had a bunch of keys in one
hand and a flashlight in the other. Because he had been seen, Weinrich
told Carlos he needed a new coat, or the same guard might recognize him
when they returned to bomb the building. Weinrich added that he
preferred not to shoot the guard first. Carlos asked: "Why not?"
Weinrich answered that this would draw unnecessary attention to them and
that the Christmas tree in front of the building blocked the guard's
view. Carlos told Weinrich that even if the bomb were to be discovered
before it exploded, if anyone then tried to move it, it would explode,
and "CIA would see just how professional their work was."
The
original time for the bombing was scheduled to be 22:15. Weinrich told
Carlos that he had planned that he and Bruno Breguet would need 12
minutes to get to the train station and head off from Munich in
different directions. If they were discovered on the train, they would
have alibis. Breguet would take the train to Nuremberg, where he would
change to a train arriving from Switzerland to Berlin. He would exchange
tickets with a helper on that train, and Breguet would then continue to
Berlin as if he had been on that train the whole time. Carlos told him
that this was a great idea.
On
January 30, 1981, Carlos went to Bucharest and remained there until
February 3, 1981. Taking advantage of the terrorists' absence, Hungarian
counterintelligence officers entered Carlos's apartment on January 31,
1981, and discovered newly brought documentation about the bomb
preparation. Included in the documentation brought to Budapest by the
ETA terrorist Luc Edgar Groven ("Eric"), the documents included detailed
sketches of RFE/RL's headquarters and other locations in Germany.
Although it was not clear from this documentation when the bombing would
occur.
Carlos
set February 14, 1981, Valentine's Day, as the date for the bombing.
However, ETA could not provide the necessary vehicles for the February
14 bombing, and the attack was postponed for one week. Carlos called
"Andrei" in Bucharest on February 13, 1981, and in guarded terms told
him that there was a delay in "Steve's" activities: "Steve cannot travel
to Bucharest this weekend but will travel a few days later."
On
February 19, 1981, Weinrich telephoned Carlos and told him in
surreptitious terms that the bombing would now take place before
Sunday—he was having bank transfer problems, but that should be resolved
by Sunday morning- The following day, Carlos called Nica. He said,
"Steve will come to Bucharest Sunday morning. He will telephone at 10
a.m. with the exact time."
Two
members of the Basque terrorist group ETA Politico-Militar drove two
vehicles from Marseille, France, to Munich for use in the bombing. One
was a white 1968 Ford with a license plate stolen in Strasbourg, France,
on February 20, 1981.
On
Saturday night, February 21, 1981, Munich's temperature was below
freezing. Snow covered the grounds around the sprawling two-story
building. Evidence points to four members of Carlos's group physically
involved in the bombinb:
A
section of RFE/RL's headquarters building was in shambles as the Basque
terrorists sped away in their cars across the bridge over the Isar
River. The two Basque terrorists stopped about 300 yards from the
damaged building and changed cars. They left behind the 1968 white Ford.
Six months later, Munich police towed the car since it had been
abandoned for so long. After they opened the trunk, they discovered five
Soviet-made Koveshnikov F-1 hand grenades. These grenades were of the
same type used by Carlos in the 1970s in Paris.
Breguet
made his way to Berlin via a train from Munich through Nuremberg, where
he switched trains and was given a ticket purchased in Switzerland to
give him an alibi at the time of the bombing. The German terrorist
Johannes Weinrich took a train to Switzerland, and the two ETA members
also left Germany in one of the stolen cars. Months of careful
preparation in Budapest, Hungary, had paid off.
After
the bombing of RFE/RL, Carlos flew to Bucharest on March 6, 1981.
Colonel Nica reluctantly toasted him with champagne for his performance,
even though Carlos was unsuccessful according to Romanian wishes.
Nica
was visibly upset, but Carlos did not seem to notice it. Nica raised a
glass of champagne and ironically toasted Carlos, "Usually I kill for
money, but this time I kill for nothing. Narok!" (Cheers!)" Carlos
smiled throughout the toast, as he did not get the irony. Nica knew
about the story of Carlos and one of his friends in the 1970s, when
Carlos visited him one morning and, holding a gun to his head, he said:
"Do you remember the movie where the cowboy says 'I kill you for money, I
kill you for a woman, and I kill you for nothing because you are my
friend." Carlos then put the gun down and hugged his friend. He was only
joking.
After
the RFE/RL bombing, Carlos had become a liability for the Socialist
countries. Carlos left Europe and moved his base of operations to
Damascus, Syria, where he continued to direct the group's international
operations. After submitting to international criticism as a government
involved in state-sponsored terrorism, Syria asked Carlos to leave in
1990. Carlos had problems settling in a friendly country. Reportedly, he
did not ask the Iranian government for shelter because of his Marxist
ideology and his resentment of religious movements. Iraq and Libya,
under intense international pressure, refused him refuge.
Carlos
settled in southern Yemen with his wife and child. Civil war erupted in
Yemen in 1993, and Carlos learned that Palestinian factions protecting
and supporting him would be transferred to Gaza and Jericho to
participate in Palestinian autonomy. Carlos decided to seek refuge in
Sudan, which was listed for years by the U.S. State Department as one
country that harbored international terrorists.
Carlos
became expendable, and, in the circumstances still unclear, Carlos was
arrested in August 1994. French officials took him into custody, flew
him to Paris, and placed him in a maximum-security prison.
On
February 22, 1996, Carlos was placed under formal investigation by
French authorities for the hand-grenade attack in Le Drugstore and
charges of "assassination, attempted assassination, and destruction with
explosives and other weapons.
In
December 1997, Venezuelan-born Ilych Ramirez-Sanchez played out his
role as "Carlos the Professional Revolutionary" and shortly held center
stage during his trial in Paris. The judge and jury were not swayed by
his histrionics and revolutionary rhetoric: he was found guilty and
sentenced to life imprisonment for killing two French secret agents and
their Lebanese informer in 1975
When
Carlos was using the safe house in Budapest, before and after the
bombing, he had continual telephone contact with Lt. Col. Sergiu Nica,
who used the code name Andrei Vitescu with the Carlos group. For a yet
unknown reason, exactly nine years after the bombing (February 21, 1990), Nica hand-wrote a report concerning his knowledge of some Romanian intelligence activities:
In 1978,
when PACEPA betrayed us, I was working in Bucharest in the military
unit U.M. 0620 and was in charge of the intelligence service and, among
other duties, personally concerned with the informative action against
the international terrorist "CARLOS." Our country was threatened from
various angles (attack at the Otopeni airport, indications as to attacks
of different embassies in Bucharest, etc.) with no possibility to
localize the terrorist
Thanks to a foreign source, I was able to determine in 1979
that "Carlos" was living in socialist countries; ... "Carlos" was
interested in establishing contact with the Romanian authorities, as
well. I passed on this information and, after several meetings with the
"informants."
Colonel
BLAGA, Stefan and General VLAD, Iulian, the management of the State
Security Service, i.e., POSTELNICU, Tudor himself, decided to send me on
a business trip abroad to verify statements concerning "Carlos΄"
identity, to determine his attitude towards Romania and, also, to get me
interested in a possible collaboration with him, to neutralize the
traitor PACEPA.
Between 1981 and 1982, General PLESITA met "Carlos" and other members of his organization several times. With these meetings, he intended to:
• Have "Carlos" refrain from taking terrorist actions against Romania
• Support
him in a certain way (meetings in Bucharest with his mother, as well as
with terrorist elements active in South America)
• Get "Carlos" to support us with the neutralization of the traitor PACEPA.
As
far as I know, nothing was attempted with PACEPA because they did not
have any people in the U.S.A. Nevertheless, we could be sure at that
point that no terrorist attacks would be taken against Romania.
Pacepa died on February 14, 2021, in the United States.
Carlos is in jail for two life
terms in Paris. The Romanian general who ordered the attack died, as did the
Romanian intelligence officer who coordinated the attack with Carlos.
Johannes Weinrich remains in
prison in Berlin, where he is serving a life sentence for the 1983 bombing of
the French Cultural Center in Berlin.
Bruno Breguet was arrested and
jailed in Paris in 1982 and returned to Switzerland after his jail sentence in
1985. He became a CIA informant in Switzerland in 1991 with the cryptonym FDBONUS/1 and was paid $3,000 per month for his
services and information about international terrorists. He disappeared in 1995.
Jose Maria Larretxea died in Cuba on February 29, 1996.
Photographs courtesy of RFE/RL
