Cold Open - Shootout in Paris

It’s a hot summer night on June 27th, 1975 at a small house party in Paris, France.

25-year-old Ilich Ramírez Sánchez flirts with a young woman at the party. Ilich is a long way from his home in Venezuela, and here in Paris, he goes by the name Carlos.

As he and the young woman chat, another partygoer interrupts with troubling news: police have just arrived at the door, and they want to speak to Carlos.

Carlos tries to hide his concern. He’s not sure what the police could want to talk to him about, but there are plenty of possibilities.

Because for years, Carlos has been working with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — a revolutionary group dedicated to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent, socialist Palestinian state. Earlier this year, Carlos and his fellow members tried to blow up two Israeli airliners at a Paris airport. But the French haven’t connected Carlos to the attack, and he hopes to keep it that way. 

Carlos does his best to appear nonchalant as he walks up to the authorities. The officers ask him about his background and recent whereabouts, but Carlos stonewalls them and threatens to call his ambassador.

Failing to get any information out of him, the officers leave. But it’s not long before they’re back again. And this time, with another guest.

As the front door swings open, standing next to the officers is Michel, one of Carlos’s  Popular Front co-conspirators. Michel was arrested a few days ago in connection to the Front’s failed airliner attacks. And ever since he’s been under interrogation, and it looks like he’s finally cracked.

The room quiets as one of the officers asks Michel to identify anyone in the room he knows. Shaking with exhaustion and fear, Michel slowly raises his arm, and points his finger at Carlos…

Before anyone can apprehend him, Carlos pulls out a semi-automatic pistol and begins firing. His first target is the man who betrayed him. As Michel falls to the ground, Carlos takes aim at the police officers.

Within seconds, they are also on the ground. As they lie there bleeding, Carlos takes one look at the gory scene he’s created, before dashing out of the door and making his escape.

When members of the French national police arrived at the apartment to find Carlos, he was only a person of interest. But in a matter of several seconds, Carlos will transform into one of France’s most wanted criminals. As authorities ramp up their search for clues about Carlos’s identity and whereabouts, the far-reaching extent of his crimes will be revealed. Soon after, the media will dub him Carlos the Jackal.

But rather than fear his newfound notoriety, Carlos will relish it. After leaving France, he'll commit a string of terrorist acts meant to shock the world and cement his status as a revolutionary, orchestrating some of the world’s most shocking acts of political terror, and earning him the title of the world’s most wanted criminal, before he is finally captured on August 14th, 1994.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 14th, 1994: Carlos the Jackal is Captured.

Act One: OPEC 1975

It’s December 21st, 1975, in Austria, about five months after Carlos the Jackal murdered three men in a Paris apartment.

It’s a quiet Sunday morning in Vienna. The city is calm as the Christmas holiday approaches. But it won’t be so for much longer.

In the middle of the city’s streets walks Carlos the Jackal, though he looks slightly different now. Since fleeing France, Carlos has celebrated his 26th birthday, grown a goatee, and started sporting longer hair. Today he’s wearing a black beret, mimicking the style of his idol, the hero of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara.

But one thing about Carlos has stayed the same: though he looks a tad more bohemian now than his time in Paris, Carlos still insists on wearing designer clothes. He may consider himself a revolutionary, but he has never left behind his extravagant upbringing.

Carlos was born in Venezuela to a very rich family. But, despite his wealth, Carlos’s father considered himself a Marxist and did his best to pass his ideology onto his children. He named his sons after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and sent Carlos to a communist revolutionary school in Moscow.

Eventually, Carlos was kicked out of that school, but not before allying himself with members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. To Carlos, joining the Palestinian cause is the clearest path to bringing about a global socialist revolution, and making a name for himself in the process. After getting involved with its paramilitary wing, Carlos went from training and fighting in Jordan to planning assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings in Europe.

And by the time the French police found him in June, Carlos already had a lengthy resume of deadly acts, but he was still largely unknown. That all changed after his shooting in Paris. The crime has brought him international infamy. But Carlos has been able to evade authorities and continue his terrorism.

Today, he and his comrades are preparing their most ostentatious act yet. They are going to storm into the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, and take its ministers hostage. They’ll use their prisoners to draw attention to the Palestinian cause and demand funds for their militant operations.

Walking next to Carlos are five of his fellow terrorists. Their hearts pound as they approach the building housing OPEC’s headquarters. Slung over their shoulders are duffel bags filled with weapons and explosives, but Carlos and his team try to act casual as they enter the building. They stroll through the lobby, before heading upstairs toward the conference room. Then, as they enter a reception area, they open fire.

An economist in the room tries to stop them, but it’s no use. Carlos pulls out his rifle and shoots him dead, before bursting inside the conference room, where he fires his gun into the air and orders everyone onto the ground.

Just as Carlos and members of his team take control, Austrian police officers arrive. But the terrorists are able to drive them back with gunfire, grenades, and a threat: if the police don’t retreat, they promise to kill everyone in the conference room.

As the officers start to comply, it's time for the next phase of the plan.

Their directions from the Popular Front are to kidnap the leaders of OPEC and board an airplane. Then, they will execute the Saudi and Iranian ministers who in the Popular Front’s eyes have betrayed the Palestinian people by cooperating with the West and Israel. Next, Carlos’s team will fly the plane to drop each minister off in their home country, but only after a ransom is paid and a pro-Palestinian message is broadcast.

If successful, they will raise millions of dollars for Palestinian fighters and put the Palestinian cause front and center on the world stage. It may feel like a far-fetched plan, but Carlos has made a name for himself among his allies and enemies by doing the unthinkable. Today, he’s determined to live up to his reputation.

Included in the demands he provides to the Austrian authorities are safe transport for his team and hostages to a plane with a crew, and for the Popular Front’s manifesto to be read over the radio every two hours. Throughout negotiations, Carlos tries to leverage his notoriety, instructing the negotiator to “Tell them I'm the famous Carlos.” Then, whenever talks start to stall, Carlos threatens to kill all of the hostages. His intimidation pays off. That same evening, the Popular Front’s manifesto is read on the radio for the first time. And the following morning, a bus arrives in front of the OPEC headquarters, ready to take them to their flight.

But once the plane leaves Austria, the plan falls apart. Amid pressure from foreign governments, Carlos is forced to release all his hostages, including the Saudi and Iranian ministers. The second half of Carlos’s mission is a failure in the eyes of the Popular Front. But he and his team are able to walk free. And for Carlos, the failed journey has a silver lining, bringing him even more media attention and putting his name in headlines across the world.

After falling short in this mission, Carlos will be expelled from the Popular Front. But, eager to hold onto his infamy, he will form his own organization and continue to make his name as one of the world’s most feared terrorists.

Act Two: Paris Attacks 1983

It’s February 23rd, 1982 in Budapest, Hungary, six years after the Popular Front’s brazen raid on the OPEC conference.

Carlos the Jackal is a bit older now, but his infamous temper and ego have not changed. As he sits down to write a letter, Carlos grips his pen tight, wondering how to put his rage into words.

Over the past decade, Carlos has carefully cultivated his image, becoming known around the world as a violent, cold-blooded killer. Soon after the OPEC kidnapping, he was forced out of the Popular Front. But, wanting to remain in the spotlight, Carlos set out on his own, building his own group called the Organization for Arab Armed Struggle, or OAAS. With support from countries and revolutionary groups in the Middle East and Soviet Eastern Europe, Carlos and his organization's more than 70 members have continued to plot and execute attacks around the world.

Governments the globe over are now afraid of getting on Carlos’s bad side. They know he will not hesitate to assassinate officials or blow up embassies when he feels like it. Carlos is relying on that reputation today as he writes a letter to the French.

A week ago, Carlos’s wife, Magdalena, and another operative, Bruno Breguet, were arrested in Paris. Authorities found money, fake passports, and explosives and then connected them to the OAAS. Now, Carlos is penning a letter to France’s interior minister, demanding their release.

In his letter, Carlos lays out a firm request: Magdalena and Bruno must be released within 30 days and given safe passage to a country of their choice. But Carlos makes it clear he has no grievance against France’s government, ending his letter with a declaration of his hope to end this affair “soon and in a happy way.” Then, Carlos signs his name and adds two thumbprints. He doesn’t want to leave any doubts as to who is responsible for the message. The sooner French authorities can confirm that Carlos the Jackal is the letter writer, the sooner they’ll understand the severity of the situation they’ve gotten themselves into.

When Carlos’s letter arrives in France, the government begins a process of negotiations through Magdalena and Bruno’s defense lawyer. France’s government insists that the judiciary should try Magdalena and Bruno soon, and then find a way to release them as quickly as possible.

But as Magdalena and Bruno await trial, Carlos plans a series of strikes to communicate the gravity of his request. On March 15th, a bomb explodes in the French cultural center in Beirut. On March 29th, four days after Carlos’s 30-day deadline, a bomb aboard a French train kills five passengers and injures 30 more. Two weeks later, a member of the French secret service and his pregnant wife are gunned down in Beirut.

As Carlos ratchets up the pressure, the French government tries to use back channels to lessen Magdalena and Bruno’s treatment. But even after two months of Carlos’s violence, Magdalena and Bruno still await trial. So Carlos continues his violence.

On April 22nd, when Magdalena and Bruno arrive in court for their trial, across town, yet another bomb detonates during the morning rush hour. 20 kilograms of explosives kill a pregnant woman and maim dozens of others. Unable to ignore this bloodshed, and eager to maintain a semblance of the rule of law, that same day, Magadalena and Bruno are found guilty and sentenced to prison.

When Carlos hears the news, he is undeterred. As usual, he will continue to make his enemies feel his anger until they have no choice but to give in. Over the next year, Carlos continues his offensive on France. His bombings culminate on December 31st, 1983 with three separate explosions, two aboard high-speed trains and one at a train station.

This time, Carlos will kill six people and injure dozens of others. But still, Magdalena will remain in jail. She will stay there for over a year before she is released in May 1985. Meanwhile, Carlos’s actions will bring unwanted attention to his Eastern Bloc hosts, and, soon, he will be expelled from Hungary. For a while, he’ll find refuge in Syria, but eventually, he’ll wear out his welcome there too. With few countries left willing to harbor one of the world’s most wanted criminals, Carlos will head to what he hopes is one of the few havens left for him, but eventually, his crimes will catch up to him.

Act Three: Captured in Sudan

It’s August 14th, 1994 on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, more than 10 years after Carlos the Jackal waged a personal war on France.

It’s the middle of the night, and as Khartoum’s oppressive heat finally lifts, Carlos settles into a deep sleep inside his new house.

After Carlos was kicked out of Hungary, he, his wife Magdalena, and their newborn daughter made Syria their home. As a condition to stay there, Carlos was instructed to halt his terrorist operations, but he continued them anyway, unwilling to give up the power and reputation he’s spent years cultivating for himself.

But tired of Carlos and life in exile, Magdalena moved to Venezuela with their daughter. Meanwhile, Carlos was forced to relocate once again after Syria learned he was planning a new campaign of violence with Iraq. Eventually, he settled in Sudan with his new wife. And now here in Khartoum, he has finally accepted that he may have to give up his career of terrorism. After the trail of death he’s created, he knows he’s lucky just to be alive and a free man.

But, unfortunately for Carlos, his good fortune has run out. Around 3 AM while lying in bed, he’s rudely awoken. Carlos feels the air knocked out of him and a heavy weight pinning his limbs down. He thrashes to break free trying to reach his gun and put down these unknown assailants. But Carlos is overpowered. His arms are wrenched behind his back and he feels the cold metal of handcuffs clamp around his wrists. Carlos continues to squirm as his legs are shackled too and a hood pulled over his head. Then as one of the intruders administers a sedative, Carlos is forced to accept his fate.

His assailants take him to a car and then through the streets of Khartoum, before transporting him to a plane. Throughout it all, Carlos figures he’s been taken by the Israeli secret service, and that his years of destruction on behalf of Palestinians have caught up to him. But soon he learns he’s actually the captive of the French.

In France, Carlos will be charged with multiple crimes including the 1975 murder of two police officers and his former accomplice. In 1997, Carlos will be found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for this and other crimes in France. He will remain behind bars even today, paying punishment for the heinous crimes against French citizens that caused the nation’s authorities to hunt down Carlos the Jackal and end his career of terror on August 14th, 1994.

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 15th, 1969. The Woodstock Music Festival kicks off on a farm in upstate New York.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Ruben Abrahams Brosbe.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.