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that the Algerian government participated with full Terrorist organizations in the Middle East had begun to
knowledge. Carlos and his fellow terrorists next trav- change, becoming more Islamic and Arab-centric; they
eled to Tripoli, Libya, where the Libyan minister was wanted to nothing to do with a Marxist Westerner. By
released. They then returned to Algiers, where the rest 1991, with the Soviet Union dissolved and the Gulf
of the hostages were released on December 24. War having rearranged Middle East alliances, Carlos
It is unknown whether Carlos and the PFLP could find no place to hide and no regime that wanted
received any ransom, and if so, from whom and in him. He had become an anachronism.
what amount. Some sources suggest that ransom of up Carlos spent the early 1990s being hustled from one
to $50 million was paid for the Syrian and Saudi Arab state to another on a series of false diplomatic
Arabian ministers and that a significant amount went passports; in 1993, he ended up in Sudan, where an
to the PFLP; however, Carlos, Wadi Haddad, and Islamic fundamentalist regime had come to power. In
George Habash may have retained a large portion for 1994, the French made a secret deal with the Sudanese,
their personal use. After releasing the hostages, Carlos and Carlos was extradited to France, where he was tried
and his accomplices were offered political asylum by for the 1975 murder of three policemen. He is currently
Algeria; once again he had escaped the grasp of the serving a life sentence; he is appealing that sentence,
police. claiming he was arrested illegally. He is believed to have
The OPEC attack was the last terrorist attack that killed more than 80 people and been responsible for the
Carlos led personally. His movements after 1975 are a deaths of hundreds more during his terrorist career.
matter of speculation, but he is believed to have
See also BAADER-MEINHOF GANG; JAPANESE RED ARMY;
returned to Lebanon, becoming part of the PFLP lead-
POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE
ership; he is also thought to have been involved in
planning the 1976 Entebbe, Uganda, hijacking. Further Reading

Follian, John. Jackal: The Secret Wars of Carlos the Jackal.
TERRORIST AS ANACHRONISM London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998.
Smith, Colin. Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist. London:
The PFLP never trusted Carlos absolutely, however,
Deutsch, 1976.
and after the death of Wadi Haddad in 1978 he drifted
Yallop, David. To the Ends of the Earth: The Hunt for the
away from them. Intelligence sources believe, and he
Jackal. London: Jonathan Cape, 1993.
himself has claimed, that he became something of a
“professional revolutionary,” hiring out his services
and expertise to the highest bidder. Between 1976 and SASR. See SPECIAL AIR SERVICE REGIMENT.
1985, Carlos is known to have operated out of (then
communist) Hungary where he stockpiled arms. He
may have operated terrorist training camps in Iran in
the early 1980s, working with Imad Mughniyah. SAUDI HEZBOLLAH. See ABDELKARIM
In January 1982, Carlos’s wife, German terrorist HUSSEIN MOHAMED AL-NASSER; AHMAD
Magdalena Kopp, was arrested in Paris. Carlos IBRAHIM AL-MUGHASSIL; IBRAHIM SALIH
bombed several French targets in an effort to force her
release, but was unsuccessful. In 1984, Carlos MOHAMMED AL-YACOUB; ALI SAED BIN ALI
unwisely allowed himself to be interviewed and pho- EL-HOORIE; KHOBAR TOWERS BOMBING.
tographed by a Lebanese journalist; he later tried and
failed to prevent the article from being printed. Soon
after publication, the magazine’s Paris offices were SAYERET MATKAL
bombed, injuring 64 people and killing one, and the
writer of the article disappeared. This incident and a aka “The Unit,” General Staff Reconnaissance
Unit 269
New Year’s Eve 1984 bomb attack are the last terror-
ist acts in which Carlos is believed to have been
involved. The Israel Defense Force’s most elite commando
In 1985, Carlos left Hungary for Prague and is unit, Sayeret Matkal has carried out many counter-
known to have been living in Syria in the late 1980s. terrorist operations.