Word: beirutization
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...last week in its fight against the scourge of terrorism. In a high-security courtroom in Frankfurt, Mohammed Ali Hammadi faced the most damaging testimony yet in his two-month-old trial for the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and the murder of a U.S. Navy diver. In Beirut, meanwhile, West German Businessman Rudolf Cordes, kidnaped 20 months ago as a direct result of Hammadi's capture, was suddenly released. Thus Bonn, which had unwittingly put its citizens at risk because a terrorist happened to fall into its hands, could breathe easier, and with a measure of satisfaction...
Syria does not deny that it possesses chemical weapons. When Lebanese reports circulated 15 months ago charging that Syria had deployed Soviet-made katyusha artillery rockets outfitted with chemical warheads against Palestinian refugee camps in southern Beirut, the Syrians rejected the accusation but did not refute the suggestion that their arsenals included poison warheads. In fact, Syrians claim that they are developing chemical weapons to counterbalance Israel's nuclear capability. Israelis do not dismiss Syria's fears. "They know very well that our reprisal will be horrible, and for the time being that deters them," General Amnon Shachak, chief...
Shielded by two bulletproof glass partitions, Defendant Mohammed Ali Hammadi rose to his feet last week to read a statement that startled spectators in the Frankfurt courtroom. The Lebanese terrorist confessed to participating in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner to Beirut but denied that he murdered one of the plane's passengers, U.S. Navy Diver Robert Stethem. "I pleaded against the killing," claimed Hammadi, who said his partner had shot Stethem...
Speculation arose that Hammadi's confession was part of a maneuver by Iran that could free West German Rudolf Cordes, one of 16 foreign hostages believed to be held in Beirut by groups like the pro-Iranian Hizballah. Most experts doubted, however, that West Germany would agree to a Hammadi-Cordes swap. At the same time, a West German intelligence source contends that Iran ordered Hammadi's confession to gain Bonn's support during upcoming peace negotiations with Iraq. For more intrigue, tune in when the trial resumes next month...
...last week as a prosecutor read the charges against him. Hammadi is accused of participating in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA Boeing 727 and the killing of U.S. Navy Diver Robert Stethem, 23, who was savagely beaten, shot in the head and then thrown onto the tarmac at Beirut airport. The Reagan Administration sought Hammadi's extradition after his arrest last year at Frankfurt airport, but Bonn refused, partly because of pressure by Shi'ite militants holding two West German hostages in Beirut...