The Last Tango in Munich: Updated

After six weeks of trial, on December 15, 2011, a French court convicted "the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal" of organizing four bomb attacks in France in the 1980s that killed 11 people and injured almost 150. He was sentenced to life in prison, which was the maximum sentence, requested by French prosecutors. German terrorist Johannes Weinrich was tried in absentia as he is serving a life sentence in Berlin and also was sentenced to life inprisonment.

Below is a look at the one bomb attack for which Carlos was responsible but has not been charged and most likely never will be: the bombing of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on February 21, 1981:

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 there were various soviet bloc intelligence service plans 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. This was 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.

Ilych Ramirez Sanchez was born in Caracas, Venezuela on October 12, 1949. There are so many untruths about the person known as "Carlos the Jackal" that it is difficult to differentiate the man from the myth. Was Carlos the penultimate, cold-blooded, ideological terrorist?  Or, was he just an overweight and over-feared thug who used the guise of political terrorism to cover his self-centered criminal acts? 

Before he was known as Carlos, Ilych Ramirez-Sanchez was somewhat successful in the terrorist field in the early 1970s.  One deadly example of his early style was his murderous hand-grenade attack at the upbeat and fashionable Le Drugstore cafe in Paris on September 15, 1974.  Two persons were killed and more than thirty were injured.

Carlos enjoyed the sudden international media attention and exploited it. He led a successful kidnapping of influential Arab oil officials in Vienna, shortly before Christmas 1976. He introduced himself to his captors by arrogantly exclaiming:  “My name is Carlos. You may have heard of me.”  With each successive terrorist act, Carlos' image as a successful and dangerous terrorist internationally grew.  While the Myth of Carlos fascinated the Western media, Carlos became inactive and went into seclusion for the next five years.

Carlos chose Hungary in 1979 for his base of operations because of "favorable communications, liberal border controls, and good relationships with the Foreign Ministry and other government and security organizations. 

Bomb Plan

Two days after his thirty-first birthday, Carlos and a group of Euro-terrorists met on October 14, 1980 in Budapest, Hungary. The terrorists discussed existing surveillance reports and a schematic that detailed RFE/RL’s building on a Saturday night. Their assigned target was the section of the building that housed RFE/RL’s Romanian Broadcast Service.  They chose another area of the building for security and practical reasons

On Saturday night, February 21, 1981, the temperature was below freezing in Munich.  Snow covered the grounds around the sprawling two-story building. No one observed the terrorists as they left their car that was parked in the shadows of the RFE/RL building. They quickly and quietly walked over the frozen ground. Two terrorists--presumably Johannes Weinrich (German, “Revolutionary Cells”) and Bruno Breguet (Swiss, “Prima Linea”) --carried the bomb that was made of estimated 15 kilograms of Nitropenta, the Romanian-made plastic explosive.

Just above the area where the terrorists placed the bomb, three employees of RFE’s Czech Language Service were busily preparing a news program scheduled for 10PM that was never aired.  At 9:50 PM, one employee picked up the ringing telephone and said.  “Hello.” No one answered.  The employee tried again, “Hello.” The room suddenly exploded into rubble. The time was later confirmed by a German agency used to monitor earthquakes: the bomb was so powerful it registered on the equipment.

The bomb’s concussion caused extensive damage and terror, in the immediate area. Windows were shattered in fifty percent of RFE/RL’s office (more than 170) and in buildings more than one hundred yards from RFE/RL headquarters. The sound of the bomb blast was heard throughout most of Munich. Damage to the building exceeded 2 million dollars. Two persons in the neighborhood and four RFE/RL employees were seriously injured.  The bomb attack, however, did not destroy the Romanian Broadcast Service but the Czech Broadcast Service.

Budapest Safe House

During the time Carlos was using the safe house in Budapest, Hungary for the bomb planning and preparations. Before and after the bombing, he had continual telephone contact with Romanian Intelligence Service officer, Lieutenant Colonel Sergiu Nica. 

After the bombing of RFE/RL, on March 6, 1981, Carlos flew to Bucharest. Colonel Nica reluctantly toasted him with champagne for his performance, even though, according to Romanian wishes, Carlos was not successful.

Bucharest house today

Nica reportedly 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 apparently 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 based of operations to Damascus, Syria, where he continued to direct the group's international operations. Syria, submitting to international criticism as a government involved in state-sponsored terrorism, asked Carlos to leave in 1990. Carlos had problems settling in a friendly country. Both Iraq and Libya, also under intense international pressure, refused him refuge. Reportedly, he did not ask the Iranian government for refuge because of his Marxist ideology and his resentment of religious movements.

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 take part in the 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 circumstances still not clear, Carlos was arrested him 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 was not swayed with 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.