1 00:00:00,503 --> 00:00:07,509 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:07,509 --> 00:00:17,518 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations but not necessarily the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 3 00:00:30,529 --> 00:00:38,536 Vienna, December 21st 1975. 4 00:00:38,536 --> 00:00:48,545 The organization of oil exporting countries, OPEC, is meeting to once again raise the price of oil. 5 00:00:48,545 --> 00:00:53,550 Recreated here is one of history's boldest terrorist operations. 6 00:00:53,550 --> 00:01:01,557 Ilitch Ramirez Sanchez, alias Carlos, with his gang quietly enter OPEC headquarters. 7 00:01:06,561 --> 00:01:17,571 Their plan? Hold the powerful oil minister's hostage and kill the two most important members, the oil minister of Iran and of Saudi Arabia. 8 00:01:18,572 --> 00:01:29,581 Who is Carlos? How did he dare dictate terms to OPEC and become the most wanted man in the world? 9 00:01:38,589 --> 00:01:46,596 Four days before Christmas 1975, Vienna was quiet. It is Sunday. 10 00:01:47,597 --> 00:01:49,599 Good morning, OPEC. 11 00:01:49,599 --> 00:01:54,603 Even so, members of OPEC are in conference at their headquarters. 12 00:01:54,603 --> 00:01:58,607 A receptionist is on duty outside the conference room. 13 00:01:58,607 --> 00:02:06,614 Security? Only two aging Austrian policemen. After all, who would attack OPEC? 14 00:02:06,614 --> 00:02:10,618 Ah, Kenny, how many men is in the hellish dump here? 15 00:02:10,618 --> 00:02:17,624 Less than a mile away, a squad of Einsatzkommando, Austrian anti-terrorist police is on duty. 16 00:02:17,624 --> 00:02:24,630 This unit has been in existence since the Munich Olympic murders of 1973. 17 00:02:25,631 --> 00:02:36,640 Christmas carols take the place of crime reports on the radio. The only conflict, Black Night takes Queen's Roof. 18 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:43,647 Carlos' attack on OPEC headquarters is recreated. 19 00:02:43,647 --> 00:02:44,648 Hey, see! 20 00:02:49,652 --> 00:02:51,654 Where's the conference room? 21 00:02:55,657 --> 00:02:58,660 Are you a policeman? 22 00:02:58,660 --> 00:02:59,661 Yes. 23 00:03:02,663 --> 00:03:05,666 Hello, it's going to be a police attack. 24 00:03:05,666 --> 00:03:07,668 The receptionist tries to call police. 25 00:03:18,677 --> 00:03:23,682 Carlos was trained by Soviet KGB agents in Havana and Moscow. 26 00:03:23,682 --> 00:03:28,686 He taught his followers that intimidation is a powerful terrorist tool. 27 00:03:53,708 --> 00:04:00,714 One of the oil minister's bodyguards tries to disarm a female gang member. 28 00:04:11,724 --> 00:04:15,728 Mischance keeps making the operation bloodier. 29 00:04:16,729 --> 00:04:23,735 At the OPEC official known how to work the firing mechanism of Carlos' machine gun, Carlos might now be dead. 30 00:04:30,741 --> 00:04:33,744 A conference room, now a prison. 31 00:04:33,744 --> 00:04:37,747 A police officer, Carlos, is now a police officer. 32 00:04:37,747 --> 00:04:40,750 Carlos is now a police officer. 33 00:04:41,751 --> 00:04:48,757 A conference room, now a prison for the hostages, is mined with plastic explosives. 34 00:04:48,757 --> 00:04:55,763 To further intimidate his captives, Carlos has ordered some charges be real, some be fake. 35 00:04:55,763 --> 00:05:00,767 But which terrified prisoner will risk his life to find out? 36 00:05:00,767 --> 00:05:04,771 Down! Get down! Everybody down! 37 00:05:11,777 --> 00:05:20,785 In an isolated office, a security guard finds a telephone still connected and calls police. 38 00:05:22,787 --> 00:05:28,792 OPEC, over fire! They are firing with machine guns! 39 00:05:33,796 --> 00:05:36,799 Dispatchers alert the Einsatzkommando. 40 00:05:40,803 --> 00:05:43,805 The OPEC is now a police officer. 41 00:05:56,817 --> 00:06:01,821 By day's end, 500 armed men would surround the OPEC headquarters. 42 00:06:02,822 --> 00:06:12,831 As the commando squad races toward OPEC, Chancellor Kwiatski is summoned to Vienna from holiday to negotiate with Carlos. 43 00:06:14,833 --> 00:06:17,835 Carlos knows he's in a strong bargaining position. 44 00:06:17,835 --> 00:06:22,840 He holds 62 hostages at gunpoint in the conference room. 45 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,843 But still, no one knows what Carlos wants. 46 00:06:26,843 --> 00:06:29,846 By now, the police are in the building. 47 00:06:32,848 --> 00:06:35,851 The terrorists open fire on the commandos. 48 00:06:35,851 --> 00:06:38,854 A 20-minute firefight ends in stalemate. 49 00:06:38,854 --> 00:06:40,855 The police pull back. 50 00:06:44,859 --> 00:06:47,862 You. Not you, the blonde. 51 00:06:49,863 --> 00:06:54,868 Confident now, Carlos chooses the most attractive secretary among the hostages 52 00:06:54,868 --> 00:06:59,872 and dictates his demands for delivery to the Chancellor of Austria. 53 00:06:59,872 --> 00:07:07,879 He wants a bus to transport everyone to the airport, a DC-9 jet to fly them to an unknown destination, 54 00:07:07,879 --> 00:07:13,885 and a pro-Palestinian statement to be read over Austrian radio every two hours. 55 00:07:13,885 --> 00:07:15,886 Negotiations now begin. 56 00:07:16,887 --> 00:07:22,892 An Iraqi diplomat acts as go-between for Carlos and Chancellor Kwiatski. 57 00:07:23,893 --> 00:07:27,897 First, you agree to release all the hostages... 58 00:07:27,897 --> 00:07:32,901 The go-between tells Carlos that Kwiatski demands all Austrian citizens be released. 59 00:07:33,902 --> 00:07:36,905 I comment here, not Kwiatski! 60 00:07:36,905 --> 00:07:38,907 Nobody is going to be released. 61 00:07:38,907 --> 00:07:40,908 I'm not going to be released. 62 00:07:40,908 --> 00:07:45,913 I comment here, not Kwiatski! Not anybody else! 63 00:07:45,913 --> 00:07:49,916 Me, Carlos, I give the orders. I decide who goes and who stays. 64 00:07:49,916 --> 00:07:52,919 Didn't you tell him who I am? I told him. 65 00:07:52,919 --> 00:07:56,922 You are Carlos. The famous Carlos. 66 00:07:56,922 --> 00:07:59,925 Flattered, his ego boosted. 67 00:07:59,925 --> 00:08:03,929 Carlos agrees to leave most of the hostages behind. 68 00:08:03,929 --> 00:08:05,930 I wasn't going to take them anyway. 69 00:08:10,935 --> 00:08:16,940 Throughout the operation, Carlos lost no opportunity to remind his hostages and the police 70 00:08:16,940 --> 00:08:22,945 that he was the same Carlos wanted throughout Europe for bombings, assassination attempts, 71 00:08:22,945 --> 00:08:25,948 and the cold-blooded killing of at least six men. 72 00:08:25,948 --> 00:08:29,952 Kwiatski then gives in to Carlos' demands. 73 00:08:29,952 --> 00:08:35,957 Now, he has succeeded in bringing Austria and the mighty OPEC to their knees. 74 00:08:36,958 --> 00:08:42,963 At dawn the next day, Carlos leaves OPEC with 35 hostages. 75 00:08:42,963 --> 00:08:46,967 This is actual film of that morning. 76 00:08:46,967 --> 00:08:55,974 Here Carlos plays out a bizarre scene, shaking hands and even embracing those he had terrorized hours earlier. 77 00:08:55,974 --> 00:09:03,981 Psychiatrist Dr. Frederick Hacker is author of the book, Crusaders, Criminals and Crazies. 78 00:09:03,981 --> 00:09:10,988 Well, we see that very often that some kind of strong emotional and effective ties develop 79 00:09:10,988 --> 00:09:17,994 between kidnappers and captured, particularly when the siege goes on for a long time. 80 00:09:17,994 --> 00:09:23,999 And it seems as if a wee group, so to speak, is forming that then turns against everybody 81 00:09:23,999 --> 00:09:30,004 who does not belong to that, namely the police, even the relatives of the victims. 82 00:09:30,004 --> 00:09:35,009 And it is this strange communion that seems to form in the face of extreme danger 83 00:09:35,009 --> 00:09:39,012 that engages our attention. 84 00:09:41,014 --> 00:09:45,018 Outside OPEC headquarters, the police stood aside. 85 00:09:52,024 --> 00:09:56,027 The bus left for the airport where the DC-9 was waiting. 86 00:10:01,032 --> 00:10:06,036 The bus left for the airport where the DC-9 was waiting. 87 00:10:16,045 --> 00:10:21,049 The worldwide press condemned Chancellor Kraski as being soft on terrorism. 88 00:10:23,051 --> 00:10:28,056 Had Kraski refused to yield, how many hostages would Carlos have killed? 89 00:10:29,056 --> 00:10:37,063 From the moment he started to deal with me, there had been already three killed people in the building 90 00:10:37,063 --> 00:10:41,067 and a lot of destruction. 91 00:10:42,068 --> 00:10:49,074 More proof for his will to kill hadn't been necessary for me. 92 00:10:50,075 --> 00:10:56,080 The Iraqi go-between in negotiations was also convinced Carlos was capable of mass murder. 93 00:10:57,081 --> 00:11:04,087 And as they described to me how they killed the people, they was laughing. 94 00:11:05,088 --> 00:11:07,090 They was very cool. 95 00:11:07,090 --> 00:11:13,095 In Algeria, Carlos was persuaded to ransom the oil ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia 96 00:11:13,095 --> 00:11:18,100 rather than kill them, the reported price $1 million each. 97 00:11:19,100 --> 00:11:21,102 Carlos became a millionaire. 98 00:11:21,102 --> 00:11:26,107 This infuriated his terrorist friends who saw him now as a mercenary 99 00:11:26,107 --> 00:11:29,109 with few ideals that couldn't be bought. 100 00:11:30,110 --> 00:11:37,116 When he made up his mind not to kill them and to accept a compensation for that, 101 00:11:37,116 --> 00:11:40,119 he had troubles with his people. 102 00:11:42,121 --> 00:11:48,126 This film, Taken at Algiers Airport, is the clearest record of Carlos that exists. 103 00:11:48,126 --> 00:11:52,130 That's him breaking away, answering a call from the plane. 104 00:11:52,130 --> 00:11:59,136 It was Christmas Eve, 1975, the last time Carlos was photographed. 105 00:12:01,137 --> 00:12:09,145 Since that day, international police sources including Israeli intelligence say that Carlos has not retired with his money. 106 00:12:09,145 --> 00:12:17,152 On the contrary, it is believed that he took an active role in planning the hijacking of the Air France airliner to Entebbe Uganda. 107 00:12:17,152 --> 00:12:26,159 And that he escaped death again because he was in Libya directing operations when the Israeli commandos saved the hostages. 108 00:12:28,161 --> 00:12:33,166 Since the OPEC operation, Interpol, studying pictures and handwriting, 109 00:12:33,166 --> 00:12:37,169 has linked Carlos to years of terrorist crimes in Europe. 110 00:12:37,169 --> 00:12:44,175 They positively identify him as Hélice Ramirez Sanchez, son of a wealthy Venezuelan lawyer. 111 00:12:47,178 --> 00:12:53,183 How did Hélice become Carlos, the most wanted man in the world? 112 00:12:56,186 --> 00:13:01,190 It had been a fast and bloody rise in the underworld of international terrorism for Carlos. 113 00:13:02,191 --> 00:13:08,197 After OPEC at age 26, he was the acknowledged ringmaster of terrorism in Europe. 114 00:13:08,197 --> 00:13:13,201 Who is Carlos and how did he achieve his infamous reputation? 115 00:13:13,201 --> 00:13:17,204 Few sons have been fashioned by their fathers as completely as Carlos. 116 00:13:17,204 --> 00:13:21,208 He grew up as the pampered son of a devout communist. 117 00:13:21,208 --> 00:13:28,214 In business affairs, however, Dr. Jose Sanchez is a capitalist, having made millions in real estate. 118 00:13:29,215 --> 00:13:34,219 He is now retired to the small village of San Cristobal in the Andes. 119 00:13:36,221 --> 00:13:40,225 This rare film of Dr. Sanchez was taken over his protest. 120 00:13:49,233 --> 00:13:54,237 Later, despite his protest, the camera caught him again. 121 00:13:54,237 --> 00:13:59,241 Dr. Sanchez now describes his son as the general of world terrorism, 122 00:13:59,241 --> 00:14:03,245 and the father completely supports his son's methods. 123 00:14:06,248 --> 00:14:12,253 In 1966, Carlos moved to London and lived with his mother, who had now separated from the father. 124 00:14:12,253 --> 00:14:18,258 It was swinging London then, and on father's money, life was good. 125 00:14:18,258 --> 00:14:21,261 Shopping in Carnegie Street for flashy clothes. 126 00:14:21,261 --> 00:14:26,265 Carlos was fascinated by James Bond films and loved the music of the Beatles. 127 00:14:30,269 --> 00:14:37,275 Seen here with his mother and a girlfriend, he became a popular young bachelor on the diplomatic cocktail circuit. 128 00:14:37,275 --> 00:14:43,280 He acquired a taste for the best Napoleon brandy and lost heavily in poker. 129 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:48,285 Swinging London life stopped abruptly when father reasserted his influence. 130 00:14:48,285 --> 00:14:52,288 Carlos was sent to Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. 131 00:14:52,288 --> 00:14:55,291 He studied terrorism for two years. 132 00:14:55,291 --> 00:15:01,296 Then, the playboy habits Carlos learned in London appeared to annoy his Russian hosts. 133 00:15:01,296 --> 00:15:03,298 He was expelled. 134 00:15:07,301 --> 00:15:14,308 From Moscow, the Carlos Trail leads to Palestinian training camps in Lebanon and Jordan. 135 00:15:15,308 --> 00:15:21,314 In camps like this one, Carlos was trained in the use of terrorist weapons. 136 00:15:21,314 --> 00:15:31,323 Sitting among his classmates from a dozen countries, it is here the alias Carlos Martinez was first used by Ilitch Ramirez Sanchez. 137 00:15:31,323 --> 00:15:39,330 The name stuck, and the transformation from Ilitch the student to Carlos the terrorist was completed. 138 00:15:39,330 --> 00:15:41,331 He went to work for the Palestinians. 139 00:15:42,332 --> 00:15:48,337 His first assignment, deliver machine guns and grenades to the fanatic Japanese Red Army, 140 00:15:48,337 --> 00:15:53,342 who had agreed to attack the passenger lounge at Laud Airport, Israel. 141 00:15:53,342 --> 00:15:58,346 The toll? 28 killed, 78 killed. 142 00:16:00,348 --> 00:16:05,352 Police investigations begin to link Carlos with his terrorist crimes. 143 00:16:05,352 --> 00:16:12,359 He is identified as the mastermind behind a rocket attack on an Israeli jetliner at Orly Airport, Paris. 144 00:16:12,359 --> 00:16:16,362 The rockets missed, the terrorists escaped. 145 00:16:18,364 --> 00:16:25,370 All Europe reacted by surrounding airports with troops and tanks, not seen here since the Second World War. 146 00:16:26,371 --> 00:16:32,376 In London, as well as other European cities, Carlos juggled affairs with almost a dozen women. 147 00:16:32,376 --> 00:16:40,383 He prided himself as a great lover, and through his extraordinary appeal, used women to provide safe havens. 148 00:16:40,383 --> 00:16:47,389 In London, one such lover is Angela Atayola, a Spanish waitress. 149 00:16:47,389 --> 00:16:52,394 Here, Carlos is a member of the Spanish military. 150 00:16:52,394 --> 00:16:56,397 Here, Angela is escorted to jail by Scotland Yard agents. 151 00:16:56,397 --> 00:17:00,401 In her apartment under the bed, they found a suitcase. 152 00:17:00,401 --> 00:17:08,408 It contained a hit list of potential assassination victims, explosives, ammunition and guns, 153 00:17:08,408 --> 00:17:14,413 one of which was used in the attempted assassination of British businessman Edward Seif. 154 00:17:14,413 --> 00:17:19,418 Carlos himself always miraculously managed to escape. 155 00:17:19,418 --> 00:17:23,421 Another girlfriend was Nydia Taban. 156 00:17:23,421 --> 00:17:28,426 She was arrested, jailed for a year and deported to South America. 157 00:17:28,426 --> 00:17:35,432 Used and discarded, women are left behind, caught in the police drag net for Carlos. 158 00:17:35,432 --> 00:17:39,435 Carlos was arrested, jailed for a year and deported to South America. 159 00:17:39,435 --> 00:17:46,441 Used and discarded, women are left behind, caught in the police drag net for Carlos. 160 00:17:47,442 --> 00:17:54,449 An hour's flight away, in Paris, a favorite girlfriend was Nancy Sanchez, a Venezuelan student. 161 00:17:54,449 --> 00:17:57,451 Carlos told Nancy he was a businessman. 162 00:17:57,451 --> 00:18:04,457 He spent long hours on her telephone and often went on business trips. 163 00:18:04,457 --> 00:18:08,461 Why would some women find a murderer like Carlos appealing? 164 00:18:08,461 --> 00:18:12,464 Well, I think that aside from probably being personally attractive, 165 00:18:12,464 --> 00:18:19,471 this kind of dangerous life has a kind of heroic attraction to a number of people. 166 00:18:19,471 --> 00:18:24,475 I understand movies and television shows are being made about such characters 167 00:18:24,475 --> 00:18:31,481 that probably use the same type of charismatic attraction that he also uses in his personal life. 168 00:18:31,481 --> 00:18:38,487 A friend of Nancy Sanchez and Carlos was Angela Armstrong, a British secretary. 169 00:18:38,487 --> 00:18:43,492 Angela remembers constant parties at Nancy's apartment at 9 Rue Touillet 170 00:18:43,492 --> 00:18:49,497 whenever Carlos returned from business trips. 171 00:18:49,497 --> 00:18:53,501 During one such party, French secret police closed in on Carlos. 172 00:18:53,501 --> 00:19:00,507 He killed two agents and a Palestinian terrorist friend whom Carlos suspected of betraying. 173 00:19:00,507 --> 00:19:07,513 A massive police manhunt for Carlos is launched throughout the country. 174 00:19:07,513 --> 00:19:12,517 Every transportation center is closely watched and guarded by police. 175 00:19:12,517 --> 00:19:17,522 Ironically, Carlos turns up the next day at the Paris Air Terminal 176 00:19:17,522 --> 00:19:21,525 after walking unnoticed through a cordon of police. 177 00:19:21,525 --> 00:19:26,530 In the terminal, he encounters Angela Armstrong. 178 00:19:26,530 --> 00:19:30,533 He asked me, have you heard the news? 179 00:19:30,533 --> 00:19:32,535 I hadn't heard anything. 180 00:19:32,535 --> 00:19:37,539 And then he said, well, I've killed two men. 181 00:19:37,539 --> 00:19:42,544 Dirty Arab betrayed me. I killed all those who betrayed me. 182 00:19:42,544 --> 00:19:48,549 And he went off. I was not drunk. He seemed quite sane. 183 00:19:48,549 --> 00:19:50,551 And I thought, my God, I'm going to be killed. 184 00:19:50,551 --> 00:19:57,557 I thought, I know him. So I knew that I definitely got into him. Nobody else could. And I was scared. 185 00:19:58,558 --> 00:20:04,563 Police later said Carlos escaped by coming here to the Algerian embassy in Paris. 186 00:20:04,563 --> 00:20:09,567 He was given a new passport and left France by boat for Algeria. 187 00:20:09,567 --> 00:20:13,571 Angela was arrested in question for two weeks. 188 00:20:13,571 --> 00:20:16,574 She was charged with collaborating with the enemies of France. 189 00:20:16,574 --> 00:20:22,579 Her case is still untried and she is under constant police surveillance. 190 00:20:22,579 --> 00:20:27,583 She is paying the price of throwing Carlos. 191 00:20:31,587 --> 00:20:35,590 The high cost of combating terrorism is affecting us all. 192 00:20:35,590 --> 00:20:39,594 We pay for increased security at airports. 193 00:20:39,594 --> 00:20:46,600 And highly trained specialists like these to deal with terrorists like Carlos. 194 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:51,604 In France, for example, the group d'intervention de la gendarmerie 195 00:20:51,604 --> 00:20:58,611 train constantly for the day they might be called upon to combat Carlos or his terrorist friends. 196 00:20:58,611 --> 00:21:03,615 Anti-terrorism is a very common thing. 197 00:21:03,615 --> 00:21:08,619 They are constantly spending money to develop new weapons and tactics. 198 00:21:08,619 --> 00:21:15,626 To a man, they believe it is not a question of whether Carlos will strike again, 199 00:21:15,626 --> 00:21:20,630 but when, where and how. 200 00:21:20,630 --> 00:21:25,634 And they are constantly spending money to develop new weapons and tactics. 201 00:21:25,634 --> 00:21:30,639 To a man, they believe it is not a question of whether Carlos will strike again, 202 00:21:30,639 --> 00:21:35,643 but when, where and how. 203 00:21:42,649 --> 00:21:48,655 Coming up next, 20th century with Mike Wallace reports on the history of kidnapping in America 204 00:21:48,655 --> 00:21:51,657 from the Lindbergh baby to the case of Polly Klass. 205 00:21:51,657 --> 00:21:56,662 Then, weapons at war send you aloft to train with Air Force Top Guns. 206 00:21:56,662 --> 00:22:01,666 And later tonight, Andrew Jackson defends New Orleans and shapes the future of America 207 00:22:01,666 --> 00:22:08,672 on Frontier, the Decisive Battles at 9, here on the History Channel, where the past comes alive.