Page 341 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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in street demonstrations and riots in the streets of
SALAFI GROUP FOR CALL AND Caracas in the mid-1960s, and is rumored to have
COMBAT. See ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP. taken guerrilla training in Cuba in 1966. Later that
year, concerned about rising violence and political
unrest in Venezuela, Carlos’s mother took her sons to
London to continue their schooling. In 1968, José
SALAMEH, MOHAMMAD. See WORLD Ramírez arranged for Carlos to attend the Patrice
TRADE CENTER BOMBING (1993). Lumumba Friendship University in Moscow.
Lumumba University was not a typical center of
academics; its purpose was to train future terrorists and
revolutionary leaders for the Third World. Subjects
SÁNCHEZ, ILICH RAMÍREZ (CARLOS included communist doctrine and covert operations.
THE JACKAL) (1949– ) Discipline was strict, and Carlos chafed under it,
slighting his studies in favor of partying and womaniz-
ing. In early 1970, he was forced to leave Moscow.
Venezuelan-born Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, more
widely known as Carlos the Jackal, was involved in
TERRORISM TRAINING
some of the most spectacular terrorist incidents of the
1970s and 1980s. He eluded police capture for more While at the university, Carlos had become engaged in
than 20 years. the Palestinian cause after meeting Muhammad
Sánchez was born on October 12, 1949, in Tachira, Boudia, a fellow student and member of the Popular
Venezuela. His parents present a study in contrasts: Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). George
his mother, Elba Maria Sánchez, was a deeply reli- Habash had created the PFLP after the crushing defeat
gious woman who enjoyed high society; his father, of a joint Arab army by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day
José Altagracia Ramírez Navas, was a fervent Marx- War. Determined to strike back at Israel, in 1968 the
ist. He named his sons Ilich, Vladimir, and Lenin, PFLP abandoned conventional military tactics, taking
after V. I. Lenin, leader of the 1917 Russian Revolu- up bombings, assassinations, and civilian airline
tion. From the moment they were born, José Ramírez hijackings. Its techniques contributed significantly to
intended his sons to be revolutionaries. Despite his the development of modern terrorism, and radical
Marxist beliefs, José Ramírez maintained a successful groups began to look to the PFLP as a model. The
law practice; the family was well off and moved in the PFLP welcomed them, allowing terrorists from
upper circles of Venezuelan society. around the world to attend its training sessions.
Carlos attended Fermin Toro Lycée, a secondary Habash hoped to use these foreigners to advance the
school famous for its leftist radicalism. He participated Palestinian cause in the West.

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