Carlos the Jackal
Encyclopedia
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (born 12 October 1949), better known as Carlos the Jackal, is a Venezuelan pro-Palestinian currently serving a life sentence in France for shooting to death two French secret agents and a Lebanese informer in 1975.
Ramírez Sánchez denied the 1975 killings, saying they were orchestrated by Mossad
, the Israeli secret service, and condemning Israel as a terrorist nation.
Ramírez Sánchez joined the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1970, when recruiting officer Bassam Abu Sharif
gave him the code name Carlos due to his South American roots.
After several bungled bombings, Ramírez Sánchez achieved notoriety for a 1975 raid on the OPEC
headquarters in Vienna, which killed three people. This was followed by a string of attacks against Western targets. For many years he was among the most wanted international fugitives. Carlos was dubbed "The Jackal" by The Guardian
after one of its correspondents reportedly spied Frederick Forsyth
's novel The Day of the Jackal
near some of the fugitive's belongings.
Arrested in Sudan in 1994 and flown to France, Ramírez Sánchez is now serving a life sentence in the Clairvaux Prison
for the murder of two French agents of the DST
(counter-intelligence) and an alleged informant.
During his trial in France in 1997, he said, “When one wages war for 30 years, there is a lot of blood spilled, mine and others. But we never killed anyone for money, but for a cause the liberation of Palestine.”
school run by the Cuban DGI
near Havana
. Later that year, his parents divorced.
His mother took the children to London, where she studied at Stafford House College in Kensington
and the London School of Economics
. In 1968 his father tried to enroll Ilich and his brother at the Sorbonne
in Paris, but eventually opted for the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. According to the BBC, it was "a notorious hotbed for recruiting foreign communists to the Soviet Union" (see active measures
). He was expelled from the university in 1970.
From Moscow Ramírez Sánchez travelled to Beirut, Lebanon, where he volunteered for the PFLP in July 1970. He was sent to a training camp for foreign volunteers of the PFLP on the outskirts of Amman
, Jordan. On graduating, he studied at a finishing school, code-named H4 and staffed by Iraqi military, near the Syria-Iraq border.
conflict of 1970, gaining a reputation as a fighter. After the organisation was pushed out of Jordan, he returned to Beirut. He was sent to be trained by Wadie Haddad
. He eventually left the Middle East to attend courses at the Polytechnic of Central London (now known as the University of Westminster), and apparently continued to work for the PFLP.
In 1973, Carlos was associated with the PFLP, which had conducted a failed assassination attempt on Joseph Sieff
, a Jewish businessman and vice president of the British Zionist Federation. The attack was announced as retaliation for Mossad
's assassination in Paris of Mohamed Boudia
, a PFLP leader.
Carlos admits responsibility for a failed bomb attack on the Bank Hapoalim
in London and car bomb
attacks on three French newspapers accused of pro-Israeli leanings. He claimed to be the grenade thrower at a Parisian restaurant in an attack that killed two and injured 30. He later participated in two failed rocket propelled grenade
attacks on El Al
airplanes at Orly Airport
near Paris, on January 13 and 17, 1975.
On June 27, 1975, Carlos's PFLP contact, Lebanon-born Michel Moukharbal, was captured and interrogated by the French domestic intelligence agency, the DST
. When three unarmed agents of the DST tried to interview Carlos at a house in Paris in the middle of a party, he shot the three agents, killing two, and also shot and killed Moukharbal. Carlos fled the scene, and managed to escape via Brussels
to Beirut.
in Vienna. On December 21, 1975, he led the six-person team (which included Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann
) that attacked the meeting of OPEC leaders; they took more than 60 hostages and killed three: an Austrian policeman, an Iraqi OPEC employee and a member of the Libyan delegation. Carlos demanded that the Austrian authorities read a communiqué about the Palestinian cause on Austrian radio and television networks every two hours. To avoid the threatened execution of a hostage every 15 minutes, the Austrian government agreed and the communiqué was broadcast as requested.
On December 22, the government provided the PFLP and 42 hostages an airplane and flew them to Algiers
, as demanded for the hostages' release. Ex-Royal Navy
pilot Neville Atkinson
, at that time the personal pilot for Libya
's leader Muammar al-Gaddafi
, flew Carlos and a number of others, including Hans-Joachim Klein
, a supporter of the imprisoned Baader-Meinhof group
and a member of the Revolutionary Cells
, and Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann, from Algiers
. Atkinson flew the DC-9 to Tripoli
, where more hostages were freed, before he returned to Algiers. The last hostages were freed there and some of the terrorists were granted asylum.
In the years following the OPEC raid, Bassam Abu Sharif
, another PLFP agent, and Klein claimed that Carlos had received a large sum of money for the safe release of the Arab hostages and had kept it for his personal use. Claims are that the amount was between US$20 million and US$50 million. The source of the money is also uncertain but, according to Klein, it was from "an Arab president". Carlos later told his lawyers that the money was paid by the Saudis on behalf of the Iranians
and was "diverted en route and lost by the Revolution."
Carlos left Algeria for Libya
and then Aden
, where he attended a meeting of senior PFLP officials to justify his failure to execute two senior OPEC hostages - the finance minister of Iran
, Jamshid Amuzgar, and the oil minister of Saudi Arabia
, Ahmed Zaki Yamani
. His trainer and PFLP-EO leader Wadie Haddad
expelled Carlos for not shooting hostages when PFLP demands were not met, thus failing his mission.
, and flown to Baghdad. He chose to settle in Aden
, where he tried to found his own Organization of Armed Struggle, composed of Syrian, Lebanese, and German rebels. He also connected with the Stasi
, East Germany's secret police. They provided him with an office and safe houses in East Berlin, a support staff of 75, and a serviced car, and allowed him to carry a pistol while in public.
From here, Ramírez Sánchez is believed to have planned his attacks on several European targets, including that on the Radio Free Europe
offices in Munich
in February 1981. In August 1983, he attacked the Maison de France in West Berlin, killing one man and injuring twenty-two. On December 31, 1983, bombs were exploded on two French TGV
trains, killing four passengers and injuring dozens more. Within days of the bombings, Ramírez Sánchez sent letters to three separate news agencies claiming responsibility for the bombings as revenge for a French air strike
against a PFLP training camp in Lebanon the previous month.
Historians' examination of Stasi files, recently accessible after the German reunification
, demonstrate a link between Ramírez Sánchez and the KGB
, via the East German secret police. When Leonid Brezhnev
visited West Germany in 1981, Ramírez Sánchez did not undertake any attacks, as the KGB had requested. Western intelligence had expected activity during this period. At one point, the Romania
n Securitate
hired Carlos to assassinate Romanian dissidents living in France.
With conditional support from the Iraq
i regime and after the death of Haddad, Ramírez Sánchez offered the services of his group to the PFLP and other groups. His group's first attack may have been a failed rocket attack on the Superphénix
French nuclear power station
on January 18, 1982.
In February 1982, two of the group—Swiss terrorist Bruno Breguet
and Ramírez Sánchez's wife Magdalena Kopp
—were arrested in Paris, in a car containing explosives. After their arrest, the group detonated a number of bombs in retaliation against French targets while Ramírez Sánchez unsuccessfully lobbied the French for their release.
These attacks led to international pressure on East European states that tolerated Ramírez Sánchez. For over two years, he lived in Hungary
, in Budapest
's second district known as the quarter of nobles. His main cut-out
for some of his financial resources, such as Gaddafi
or Dr. George Habash
, was the friend of his sister, "Dietmar C", a known German terrorist and the leader of the Panther Brigade of the PFLP. Hungary expelled Ramírez Sánchez in late 1985, and he was refused aid in Iraq, Libya and Cuba
before he found limited support in Syria
. He settled in Damascus
with Kopp and their daughter, Elba Rosa.
The Syrian government forced Ramírez Sánchez to remain inactive, and he no longer was seen as a threat. In 1990, the Iraqi government approached him for work, and, in September 1991, he was expelled from Syria. After staying temporarily in Jordan
, he gained better protection in Sudan
and moved to Khartoum
.
During Carlos' career, most of it during the Cold War
, Western accounts claimed he was a KGB
agent. Some attacks may have been attributed to him for lack of anyone else to claim credit. His own boasts about probably nonexistent missions have further confused the issue.
The French and US intelligence agencies offered a number of deals to the Sudanese authorities. In 1994, Carlos was scheduled to undergo a minor testicular operation in a hospital in Sudan. Two days after the operation, Sudanese officials told him that he needed to be moved to a villa for protection from an assassination attempt and would be given personal bodyguards. One night later, the bodyguards went into his room while he slept, tranquilized and tied him, and took him from the villa.
On August 14, 1994, Sudan transferred him to French agents of the DST
, who flew him to Paris for trial. He was charged with the Paris murders of two policemen and PFLP-guerrilla-turned-French informant Michel Moukharbal in 1975 and sent to La Santé Prison
in Paris to await trial. In 1996, a majority of the European Commission of Human Rights
rejected his application related to the process of his capture.
The trial began on December 12, 1997 and ended on December 23, when he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment
. He was later moved from La Santé to the Clairvaux Prison
.
In 2001, after converting to Islam
, Ramírez Sánchez married his lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre
, in a Muslim ceremony, although he was still married to his second wife.
In June 2003, Carlos published a collection of writings from his jail cell. The book, whose title translates to Revolutionary Islam
, seeks to explain and defend violence in terms of class conflict
. In the book, he voices support for Osama bin Laden
and his attacks on the United States.
In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights
heard a complaint from Ramírez Sánchez that his long years of solitary confinement
constitute "inhuman and degrading treatment". Although the court rejected this claim, it was on appeal as of early 2006. The Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez
has praised Ramírez Sánchez, saying in a 2009 speech that he had been unfairly convicted and was not a terrorist but a "revolutionary fighter".
, Christina Frohlich, and Ali Kamal Issawi. Germany has refused to extradite Weinrich and Frohlich, and Issawi, a Palestinian, "is reportedly on the run." Carlos continues to deny any involvement in the attacks.
Ramírez Sánchez denied the 1975 killings, saying they were orchestrated by Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
, the Israeli secret service, and condemning Israel as a terrorist nation.
Ramírez Sánchez joined the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1970, when recruiting officer Bassam Abu Sharif
Bassam Abu Sharif
Bassam Abu Sharif is a former senior adviser to the late Yasser Arafat and press officer of the Palestine Liberation Organization ....
gave him the code name Carlos due to his South American roots.
After several bungled bombings, Ramírez Sánchez achieved notoriety for a 1975 raid on the OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
headquarters in Vienna, which killed three people. This was followed by a string of attacks against Western targets. For many years he was among the most wanted international fugitives. Carlos was dubbed "The Jackal" by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
after one of its correspondents reportedly spied Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
's novel The Day of the Jackal
The Day of the Jackal
The Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by English writer Frederick Forsyth, about a professional assassin who is contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960s, to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France....
near some of the fugitive's belongings.
Arrested in Sudan in 1994 and flown to France, Ramírez Sánchez is now serving a life sentence in the Clairvaux Prison
Clairvaux Prison
Clairvaux Prison is a high-security prison in France, on the site of the former Clairvaux Abbey.-1971 revolt:In this prison in 1971, convicts Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems took Nicole Comte, a nurse, and Guy Girardot, a prison guard, hostage, and Buffet subsequently murdered them. Buffet and...
for the murder of two French agents of the DST
Direction de la surveillance du territoire
The Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
(counter-intelligence) and an alleged informant.
During his trial in France in 1997, he said, “When one wages war for 30 years, there is a lot of blood spilled, mine and others. But we never killed anyone for money, but for a cause the liberation of Palestine.”
Early life
Ramírez Sánchez was born in the state of Táchira, Venezuela. Despite his mother's pleas to give their firstborn child a Christian first name, his father, a Marxist lawyer, called him Ilich, after Lenin (two younger siblings were named "Lenin" and "Vladimir"). He attended a school in Caracas and joined the youth movement of the national communist party in 1959. After attending the Third Tricontinental Conference in January 1966 with his father, Ramírez Sánchez reportedly spent the summer at Camp Matanzas, a guerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
school run by the Cuban DGI
General Intelligence Directorate
The Intelligence Directorate is the main state intelligence agency of the government of Cuba. The DI, under the big umbrella of the MININT, was founded in late 1961 by Cuba's Ministry of the Interior shortly after the Cuban Revolution...
near Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. Later that year, his parents divorced.
His mother took the children to London, where she studied at Stafford House College in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
and the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. In 1968 his father tried to enroll Ilich and his brother at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris, but eventually opted for the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. According to the BBC, it was "a notorious hotbed for recruiting foreign communists to the Soviet Union" (see active measures
Active measures
Active Measures were a form of political warfare conducted by the Soviet security services to influence the course of world events, "in addition to collecting intelligence and producing politically correct assessment of it". Active measures ranged "from media manipulations to special actions...
). He was expelled from the university in 1970.
From Moscow Ramírez Sánchez travelled to Beirut, Lebanon, where he volunteered for the PFLP in July 1970. He was sent to a training camp for foreign volunteers of the PFLP on the outskirts of Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan. On graduating, he studied at a finishing school, code-named H4 and staffed by Iraqi military, near the Syria-Iraq border.
PFLP
On completing guerrilla training, Carlos played an active role for the PFLP in the north of Jordan during the Black SeptemberBlack September in Jordan
September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events." It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the militancy of Palestinian organizations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The...
conflict of 1970, gaining a reputation as a fighter. After the organisation was pushed out of Jordan, he returned to Beirut. He was sent to be trained by Wadie Haddad
Wadie Haddad
Wadie Haddad , also known as Abu Hani, was a Palestinian doctor of medicine and the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing...
. He eventually left the Middle East to attend courses at the Polytechnic of Central London (now known as the University of Westminster), and apparently continued to work for the PFLP.
In 1973, Carlos was associated with the PFLP, which had conducted a failed assassination attempt on Joseph Sieff
Joseph Sieff
Joseph Edward Sieff , known as Teddy Sieff, was a British businessman and Zionist. He was chairman of retailer Marks & Spencer and honorary vice-president of the British Zionist Federation....
, a Jewish businessman and vice president of the British Zionist Federation. The attack was announced as retaliation for Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
's assassination in Paris of Mohamed Boudia
Mohamed Boudia
Mohamed Boudia was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine assassinated by an Israeli hit team as part of Operation Wrath of God, in reaction to his role in the 1972 Munich massacre. At the time of his assassination Boudia was the head of PFLP terrorist operations in Europe...
, a PFLP leader.
Carlos admits responsibility for a failed bomb attack on the Bank Hapoalim
Bank Hapoalim
Bank Hapoalim is Israel’s largest bank. As of 31 December 2008 it had total consolidated assets of NIS 306.85 billion. The Bank has a significant presence in global financial markets. In Israel, the Group has over 260 full-service branches, eight regional business centers, and industry desks...
in London and car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
attacks on three French newspapers accused of pro-Israeli leanings. He claimed to be the grenade thrower at a Parisian restaurant in an attack that killed two and injured 30. He later participated in two failed rocket propelled grenade
Rocket propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable while others are single-use. RPGs, with the exception of...
attacks on El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
airplanes at Orly Airport
Orly Airport
Paris-Orly Airport is an airport located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris, France. It has flights to cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Southeast Asia. Prior to the construction of Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly was...
near Paris, on January 13 and 17, 1975.
On June 27, 1975, Carlos's PFLP contact, Lebanon-born Michel Moukharbal, was captured and interrogated by the French domestic intelligence agency, the DST
Direction de la surveillance du territoire
The Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
. When three unarmed agents of the DST tried to interview Carlos at a house in Paris in the middle of a party, he shot the three agents, killing two, and also shot and killed Moukharbal. Carlos fled the scene, and managed to escape via Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
to Beirut.
OPEC raid and expulsion from PFLP
From Beirut, Carlos participated in the planning for the attack on the headquarters of OPECOPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
in Vienna. On December 21, 1975, he led the six-person team (which included Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann
Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann
Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann was a West German political militant associated with Movement 2 June and the Second Generation Red Army Faction. She was the wife of the J2M terrorist Norbert Kröcher.-Early life:...
) that attacked the meeting of OPEC leaders; they took more than 60 hostages and killed three: an Austrian policeman, an Iraqi OPEC employee and a member of the Libyan delegation. Carlos demanded that the Austrian authorities read a communiqué about the Palestinian cause on Austrian radio and television networks every two hours. To avoid the threatened execution of a hostage every 15 minutes, the Austrian government agreed and the communiqué was broadcast as requested.
On December 22, the government provided the PFLP and 42 hostages an airplane and flew them to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, as demanded for the hostages' release. Ex-Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
pilot Neville Atkinson
Neville Atkinson
Neville Atkinson was born in Beverley in the East riding of Yorkshire. He was a successful night fighter pilot for the Fleet Air Arm in the Royal Navy. Neville served on the HMS Centaur and piloted Sea Vixen FAW2 fighters...
, at that time the personal pilot for Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
's leader Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
, flew Carlos and a number of others, including Hans-Joachim Klein
Hans-Joachim Klein
Hans-Joachim Klein is a former member of the German left-wing militant group Revolutionary Cells . In 1975 Klein participated in an attack on OPEC headquarters in Vienna organized by Carlos the Jackal, in which he was seriously injured. He publicly renounced political violence two years later...
, a supporter of the imprisoned Baader-Meinhof group
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
and a member of the Revolutionary Cells
Revolutionary Cells (RZ)
Revolutionary Cells was a German left-wing political militancy of self-described "urban guerillas" who were active from 1973 to 1993. According to the office of the German Federal Prosecutor, the RZ claimed responsibility for 186 attacks, of which 40 were committed in West Berlin...
, and Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann, from Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. Atkinson flew the DC-9 to Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, where more hostages were freed, before he returned to Algiers. The last hostages were freed there and some of the terrorists were granted asylum.
In the years following the OPEC raid, Bassam Abu Sharif
Bassam Abu Sharif
Bassam Abu Sharif is a former senior adviser to the late Yasser Arafat and press officer of the Palestine Liberation Organization ....
, another PLFP agent, and Klein claimed that Carlos had received a large sum of money for the safe release of the Arab hostages and had kept it for his personal use. Claims are that the amount was between US$20 million and US$50 million. The source of the money is also uncertain but, according to Klein, it was from "an Arab president". Carlos later told his lawyers that the money was paid by the Saudis on behalf of the Iranians
Iranians
Iranians may refer to:* Persian people, who are synonymous with the people of Iran/Persia...
and was "diverted en route and lost by the Revolution."
Carlos left Algeria for Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and then Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, where he attended a meeting of senior PFLP officials to justify his failure to execute two senior OPEC hostages - the finance minister of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Jamshid Amuzgar, and the oil minister of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Ahmed Zaki Yamani
Ahmed Zaki Yamani
Ahmed Zaki Yamani is a Saudi Arabian politician who was Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources from 1962 until 1986 for his country, and a minister in OPEC for 25 years....
. His trainer and PFLP-EO leader Wadie Haddad
Wadie Haddad
Wadie Haddad , also known as Abu Hani, was a Palestinian doctor of medicine and the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing...
expelled Carlos for not shooting hostages when PFLP demands were not met, thus failing his mission.
After 1975
In September 1976, Carlos was arrested, detained in YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, and flown to Baghdad. He chose to settle in Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, where he tried to found his own Organization of Armed Struggle, composed of Syrian, Lebanese, and German rebels. He also connected with the Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
, East Germany's secret police. They provided him with an office and safe houses in East Berlin, a support staff of 75, and a serviced car, and allowed him to carry a pistol while in public.
From here, Ramírez Sánchez is believed to have planned his attacks on several European targets, including that on the Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
offices in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
in February 1981. In August 1983, he attacked the Maison de France in West Berlin, killing one man and injuring twenty-two. On December 31, 1983, bombs were exploded on two French TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
trains, killing four passengers and injuring dozens more. Within days of the bombings, Ramírez Sánchez sent letters to three separate news agencies claiming responsibility for the bombings as revenge for a French air strike
Multinational Force in Lebanon
The Multinational Force in Lebanon was an international peacekeeping force created in 1982 and sent to Lebanon to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization...
against a PFLP training camp in Lebanon the previous month.
Historians' examination of Stasi files, recently accessible after the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, demonstrate a link between Ramírez Sánchez and the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, via the East German secret police. When Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
visited West Germany in 1981, Ramírez Sánchez did not undertake any attacks, as the KGB had requested. Western intelligence had expected activity during this period. At one point, the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
hired Carlos to assassinate Romanian dissidents living in France.
With conditional support from the Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i regime and after the death of Haddad, Ramírez Sánchez offered the services of his group to the PFLP and other groups. His group's first attack may have been a failed rocket attack on the Superphénix
Superphénix
Superphénix or SPX was a nuclear power station on the Rhône River at Creys-Malville in France, close to the border with Switzerland. A fast breeder reactor, it halted electricity production in 1996 and was closed as a commercial plant in 1997....
French nuclear power station
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
on January 18, 1982.
In February 1982, two of the group—Swiss terrorist Bruno Breguet
Bruno Breguet
Bruno Breguet was a Swiss associate of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as "Carlos the Jackal". He disappeared in 1995.-Israel:In 1970 Breguet, then 19 years old, traveled to Lebanon to join the PFLP. A few weeks later he was arrested in Israel carrying two kilograms of explosives...
and Ramírez Sánchez's wife Magdalena Kopp
Magdalena Kopp
Cecilina Magdalena Kopp was born in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria in 1948. She was a photographer and member of the Frankfurt Revolutionary Cells . She is known for being the wife and accomplice of political militant Ilich Ramírez Sánchez also known as "Carlos the Jackal".- Early life :Magdalena Kopp grew up in...
—were arrested in Paris, in a car containing explosives. After their arrest, the group detonated a number of bombs in retaliation against French targets while Ramírez Sánchez unsuccessfully lobbied the French for their release.
These attacks led to international pressure on East European states that tolerated Ramírez Sánchez. For over two years, he lived in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
's second district known as the quarter of nobles. His main cut-out
Cut-out (espionage)
In espionage parlance, a cutout is a mutually trusted intermediary, method or channel of communication, facilitating the exchange of information between agents. Cutouts usually only know the source and destination of the information to be transmitted, but are unaware of the identities of any other...
for some of his financial resources, such as Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
or Dr. George Habash
George Habash
George Habash also known by his laqab "al-Hakim" was a Palestinian nationalist. Habash, a Palestinian Christian, founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which pioneered the hijacking of airplanes as a Middle East militant tactic...
, was the friend of his sister, "Dietmar C", a known German terrorist and the leader of the Panther Brigade of the PFLP. Hungary expelled Ramírez Sánchez in late 1985, and he was refused aid in Iraq, Libya and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
before he found limited support in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. He settled in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
with Kopp and their daughter, Elba Rosa.
The Syrian government forced Ramírez Sánchez to remain inactive, and he no longer was seen as a threat. In 1990, the Iraqi government approached him for work, and, in September 1991, he was expelled from Syria. After staying temporarily in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, he gained better protection in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and moved to Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
.
During Carlos' career, most of it during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Western accounts claimed he was a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent. Some attacks may have been attributed to him for lack of anyone else to claim credit. His own boasts about probably nonexistent missions have further confused the issue.
Arrest and imprisonment
On August 14, 1994, Sudan transferred him to French agents of the DST
Direction de la surveillance du territoire
The Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
, who flew him to Paris for trial. He was charged with the Paris murders of two policemen and PFLP-guerrilla-turned-French informant Michel Moukharbal in 1975 and sent to La Santé Prison
La Santé Prison
La Santé Prison is a prison operated by the Ministry of Justice located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is one of the most famous prisons in France, with both VIP and high security wings....
in Paris to await trial. In 1996, a majority of the European Commission of Human Rights
European Commission of Human Rights
European Commission of Human Rights was a special tribunal.From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Human Rights; they had to apply to the Commission, which if it found the case to be...
rejected his application related to the process of his capture.
The trial began on December 12, 1997 and ended on December 23, when he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. He was later moved from La Santé to the Clairvaux Prison
Clairvaux Prison
Clairvaux Prison is a high-security prison in France, on the site of the former Clairvaux Abbey.-1971 revolt:In this prison in 1971, convicts Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems took Nicole Comte, a nurse, and Guy Girardot, a prison guard, hostage, and Buffet subsequently murdered them. Buffet and...
.
In 2001, after converting to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Ramírez Sánchez married his lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre
Isabelle Coutant-Peyre
Isabelle Coutant-Peyre is a French lawyer engaged to Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the international terrorist better known as "Carlos" or "Carlos the Jackal"....
, in a Muslim ceremony, although he was still married to his second wife.
In June 2003, Carlos published a collection of writings from his jail cell. The book, whose title translates to Revolutionary Islam
Revolutionary Islam
Revolutionary Islam is a book written by international revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as Carlos the Jackal, under the direction of Jean-Michel Vernochet. It was published in 2003 by the Éditions du Rocher.- External links :* , BBC...
, seeks to explain and defend violence in terms of class conflict
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
. In the book, he voices support for Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
and his attacks on the United States.
In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
heard a complaint from Ramírez Sánchez that his long years of solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
constitute "inhuman and degrading treatment". Although the court rejected this claim, it was on appeal as of early 2006. The Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
has praised Ramírez Sánchez, saying in a 2009 speech that he had been unfairly convicted and was not a terrorist but a "revolutionary fighter".
New trial
In May 2007, anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguière ordered a new trial for Carlos on charges relating to "killings and destruction of property using explosive substances" in France in 1982 and 1983. The bombings killed eleven and injured more than 100 people. Ramirez denied any connection to the events in his 2011 trial, staging a nine-day hunger strike to protest his imprisonment conditions. The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, began on November 7, 2011, in Paris. Three other members of Carlos's organization will be tried at the same time in absentia: Johannes WeinrichJohannes Weinrich
Johannes Weinrich is a German left-wing political militant. Weinrich was a founder of the Revolutionary Cells and later became a close aide to Carlos the Jackal...
, Christina Frohlich, and Ali Kamal Issawi. Germany has refused to extradite Weinrich and Frohlich, and Issawi, a Palestinian, "is reportedly on the run." Carlos continues to deny any involvement in the attacks.
Books
- In 1976 Colin Smith, reporter for The ObserverThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, wrote the authoritative biography Carlos: Portrait Of A Terrorist, published by Andre Deutsch (ISBN 0 233 968431). - Charles Lichtman wrote a novel entitled The Last Inauguration, in which Carlos is hired by Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
to carry out a terrorist attack on the Presidential Inauguration Ball. - Carlos the Jackal features prominently as the antagonistAntagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in Robert LudlumRobert LudlumRobert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
's fictional Bourne TrilogyJason BourneJason Charles Bourne is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the novels of Robert Ludlum and subsequent film adaptations. He first appeared in the novel The Bourne Identity...
. In the trilogy, Carlos is depicted as the world's most dangerous assassin, a man with international contacts that allow him to strike efficiently and anonymously at locations anywhere on the globe. - In the Tom ClancyTom ClancyThomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
novel, Rainbow SixRainbow Six (novel)Rainbow Six is a techno-thriller novel written by Tom Clancy. It focuses on John Clark, Ding Chavez, and a fictional multi-national counterterrorist unit codenamed Rainbow, rather than Jack Ryan and national politics...
, terrorists attempt to have Carlos freed from prison by staging a terrorist attack on an amusement park in Spain. - Aline, Countess of RomanonesAline, Countess of RomanonesDoña María Aline Griffith Dexter, Countess of Romanones, Grandee of Spain is a Spanish-American aristocrat, socialite, and writer who started at the US Office of Strategic Services as a cipher clerk during World War II...
(née Aline Griffith), whose first three books were memoirs of her work with the OSSOffice of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
, wrote the 1994 novel, The Well Mannered Assassin, about Carlos the Jackal. The Countess knew Carlos as a charming playboy in the 1970s. - To the Ends of the Earth, the Hunt for the Jackal, by David Yallop (1993). A detailed account of Yallop's attempts through the 1980s to unearth the true story of Carlos, as he attempts to secure an interview with him.
- The 2004 nonfiction book Hunting the JackalHunting the JackalHunting the Jackal is a nonfiction book by Billy Waugh, a former Green Beret and CIA operative, that details Waugh's exploits in covert operations. The title refers to the author's work in tracking international terrorist Carlos the Jackal. The book was published by William Morrow in July 2004.* 2004...
, by Billy WaughBilly WaughSergeant Major William "Billy" Waugh , is a highly decorated American Special Forces soldier and a Central Intelligence Agency Paramilitary Operations Officer who served in the United States military and CIA special operations for more than fifty years. SGM Waugh served in the U.S...
, reveals the CIA operation in Sudan to locate and photograph Carlos, which led to his arrest in Khartoum.
Films
- 1979 Mexican film Carlos el Terrorista, starring Dominican-Mexican actor Andrés GarcíaAndrés GarcíaAndrés García is a Dominican-born Mexican actor. He is known throughout Latin America and among Hispanics in the United States....
, is loosely inspired by Ramírez Sánchez. - In the 1994 film True LiesTrue LiesTrue Lies is a 1994 American action-comedy film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik. Eliza Dushku also appears in the film in one of her first major film roles...
, Bill PaxtonBill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...
plays a car dealer named Simon who is falsely accused of being Carlos the Jackal. - 1990 film Death Has a Bad Repution directed by Lawrence Gordon ClarkLawrence Gordon ClarkLawrence Gordon Clark is an English television director and producer, perhaps best known for his A Ghost Story for Christmas series of mostly M.R...
and presented by Frederick ForsythFrederick ForsythFrederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
, starring Elizabeth HurleyElizabeth HurleyElizabeth Jane Hurley is an English model and actress who became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. In 1994, as Grant became the focus of worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hurley accompanied him to the film's Los...
and Tony Lo BiancoTony Lo BiancoTony Lo Bianco is an American actor in films and television.Lo Bianco was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a taxi driver. He is known for his roles in the cult films The Honeymoon Killers, God Told Me To, and The French Connection... - 1997 film The Assignment, starring Aidan QuinnAidan Quinn-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
, Donald SutherlandDonald SutherlandDonald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, and Ben KingsleyBen KingsleySir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, is a fictional account of the U.S. government's efforts to hunt down Carlos. - The 2007 documentary film, Terror's AdvocateTerror's AdvocateTerror's Advocate is a 2007 French documentary film about Jacques Vergès.-Critical reception:The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of January 5, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 85% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 40 reviews...
, features a chapter on Carlos. - The 2009 Danish film, Blekingegadebanden, about a minor Danish organization robbing money to send to the PFLP, includes an interview with Sánchez.
- The 2010 Olivier AssayasOlivier AssayasOlivier Assayas is a French film director and screenwriter.He made his debut in 1986, after directing some short films and writing for the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma.-Career:...
-directed series CarlosCarlos (TV miniseries)Carlos is a 3-part French television drama mini-series, first broadcast on Canal+ in 2010. Produced by Film En Stock's Daniel Leconte in coproduction with Jens Meuer in association with Canal +, Studio Canal, ARTE, the Sundance Channel, it was created by Daniel Leconte and written by Dan Franck and...
documents the life of Ramírez Sánchez. The film won a Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for Best Miniseries or Television Movie. Carlos is played by Venezuelan actor Édgar RamírezEdgar RamirezÉdgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano is a Venezuelan actor. He played Carlos in the 2010 French-German biopic series Carlos, a role for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor at the César Awards 2011. He also played "Paz", a CIA assassin in the movie The Bourne Ultimatum.Ramírez...
.
TV
- In the 1982 TV series, Whoops ApocalypseWhoops ApocalypseWhoops Apocalypse is a six-part 1982 television sitcom by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, made by London Weekend Television for ITV. Marshall and Renwick later reworked the concept as a 1986 movie from ITC Entertainment, with almost completely different characters and plot, although one or two...
, the character of Lacrobat (John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
) was a parody of Carlos the Jackal. In the film version of the series, released in 1986, actor Michael RichardsMichael RichardsMichael Anthony Richards is an American actor, comedian, writer and television producer, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom Seinfeld....
played Lacrobat. - The TV series, Frederick ForsythFrederick ForsythFrederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
Presents, which was made between 1989 and 1990, featured an episode, Death Has a Bad Reputation, in which Carlos (Tony Lo BiancoTony Lo BiancoTony Lo Bianco is an American actor in films and television.Lo Bianco was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a taxi driver. He is known for his roles in the cult films The Honeymoon Killers, God Told Me To, and The French Connection...
) is spotted in Rome and killed. - Daniel Leconte, the producer of the 2010 Carlos, in 1995 produced a two-episode documentary about Carlos called The Carlos Years.
Music
- His face is on the cover of the 1995 Black GrapeBlack GrapeBlack Grape were a 1990s rock band from England, featuring former members of Happy Mondays. The group's music was funky and eclectic, using varied instrumentation and samples.-History:...
album It's Great When You're Straight... YeahIt's Great When You're Straight... YeahIt's Great When You're Straight... Yeah is the first album by British band Black Grape. It was released in 1995. The album was seen as something of a triumphant comeback for both Shaun Ryder and Bez...
.
Video games
- In James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire, one of the player's adversaries is a female assassin named Carla The Jackal.
External links
- Carlos the Jackal: Trail of Terror by Patrick Bellamy, The Crime Library
- Ex-guerrilla Carlos to sue France over solitary confinement by CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
- Carlos the Jackal, imprisoned for life, looks in lawsuit to protect his image, Washington Post, January 26, 2010
- When Global Terrorism Went By Another Name – audio report by NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
- Carlos the Jackal's Parisian trail of destruction – article and map of Carlos' alleged activities in Paris by Radio France InternationaleRadio France InternationaleRadio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...