Word: lufthansa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...three young fedayeen who had been confined in separate Bavarian prisons since they were captured during the Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes and coaches. Last week Black September acted-and took the Germans by surprise. In one of the boldest skyjackings so far, two Palestinian terrorists commandeered a Lufthansa 727 with eleven other passengers aboard and forced the release of their three captured brethren...
...reaction in the Arab world was undisguised rejoicing. "Despite Zionist terrorism, the Palestinians are still able to present their cause to the world," crowed the Cairo newspaper Al-Gumhouria. When the Lufthansa jet landed in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, the three rescued Black Septemberists aboard-Sammar Abdullah, Abdul Kader Dannawi and Ibrahim Badran -were welcomed like conquering princes...
...Israeli jets bombed Syria on the presumption that the skyjackers had come from there. Perhaps they had, since Syria is one of the few Arab states that still provide the fedayeen with camping space and money. Nonetheless, Lufthansa Flight 615 was empty when it left Damascus at 5:35 a.m. last week scheduled to Beirut, Ankara, Munich and Frankfurt. At Beirut, 13 passengers came aboard after a routine handbag and luggage check. Ten miles north of Cyprus, Captain Walter Claussen, 37, felt a gun muzzle at his neck and a soft-spoken Arab behind him on the flight deck...
...passengers and crew" of the jet. If that was not feasible, they told Yugoslav officials, the three prisoners were to be exchanged for the hostages. But if the skyjackers would not agree to the terms, the prisoners were to be returned to West Germany. In preparation for the deal, Lufthansa Board Chairman Herbert Culmann and the three prisoners boarded a Hawker Siddeley executive jet, which was to remain in West German airspace until the terrorists agreed to a direct swap...
...agreeing with the Tel Aviv daily Hatzofeh that the whole tragedy might have been avoided had West Germany not "surrendered" in the past to the demands of terrorists; last February, Bonn delivered a cool $5,000,000 cash ransom to Palestinian hijackers who had taken over an Athens-bound Lufthansa 747 with 186 passengers and crew members and diverted the plane to Aden. For their part, German officials complained that Israel's refusal to release any Arab prisoners had made the botched rescue a vain effort from the start...