Khartoum diplomatic assassinations
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The Khartoum diplomatic assassinations took place between 1 March 1973 and 3 March 1973 in the capital city of Sudan, Khartoum and were executed by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. Three western diplomats were murdered during a lengthy hostage-taking.
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Hostage-taking
On the evening of 1 March 1973, a reception was underway for the US Deputy Chief of Mission to Sudan, George Curtis Moore at the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. Mr. Moore was soon to be reassigned to another post in the United States.
At some point in the evening, eight masked men from Black September entered the building and fired shots. There was little or no security for the reception on this particular evening. Protection was normally provided by the local police, but no units were provided, presumably because all available units were preparing for "National Unity Day," the first anniversary of the end of hostilities between rebels and the Sudanese government (see First Sudanese Civil War). The terrorists succeeded in detaining ten hostages. The hostages were:
- Guy Eid, Belgian Chargé d'affaires to Sudan
- Sheikh Abdullah al Malhouk, Saudi Ambassador to Sudan
- Wife of Sheikh Abdullah al Malhouk
- Malhouk's four children
- George Curtis Moore, US Deputy Chief of Mission to Sudan
- Adli al Nasser, Jordanian Chargé d'affaires to Sudan
- Cleo A. Noel, Jr., US Chief of Mission to Sudan
Demands and negotiations
The morning after the hostages had been taken, the terrorists demanded the release of numerous Palestinian militants held by the Israelis. They also demanded the release of members of the Baader-Meinhof Group in West Germany, who were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. The release of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian native who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy was also demanded. The terrorists eventually dropped their demands on the Israelis and West Germans, but instead demanded the release of ninety Arab militants who were currently being held by the Jordanian government.
Their demands were to be met within twenty-four hours or all hostages were to be killed. However, within twelve hours, the terrorists had made clear to negotiators they had murdered three of the ten hostages: Mr. Noel, 54; Mr. Moore, 47; Mr. Eid, 38. All those killed represented western governments. The terrorists refused to release the bodies of the murdered men.
The terrorists then demanded a plane to take them and their hostages to the United States. Both the Sudanese and US governments rejected this demand. In a news conference on March 2, President Richard Nixon said that the United States would do everything it could to obtain the release of the hostages but would "not pay blackmail."
The Sudanese government continued to negotiate with the terrorists, but refused to compromise or meet any of the group's demands. Within sixty hours, the eight gunmen released the remaining hostages, all of whom were Arab, and surrendered to Sudanese authorities.
Trials and convictions
In October of 1973, charges against two of the terrorists were dropped for insufficient evidence. A court of inquiry commenced to try the remaining six in June of 1974. The court sentenced the six to life imprisonment. The US government unsuccessfully lobbied the Sudanese government to put them to death.
Sudanese President Nimeiri immediately commuted the sentences of the remaining six terrorists to seven years. Nimeiri then released the six into the custody of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The next day, the PLO sent the six to Egypt where they were to serve their sentences. In protest of this, the United States withdrew its ambassador to Sudan and froze economic assistance to Sudan in June. The US ambassador returned in November of the same year and aid resumed in 1976.
Three of the Black September terrorists disappeared from Egyptian custody and were never recaptured. The remaining three served out their sentences.
Fatah and Arafat connections
The terrorist group Black September had clear connections to the Palestinian cause. This was established when the group held hostage and eventually murdered eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany during the Munich massacre.
It was widely suspected but not concretely confirmed that Black September was a front for Yasser Arafat's Fatah terrorist group, and the Munich massacre may have been ordered or directed by Arafat. The Khartoum assassinations further cemented a connection to Arafat and Fatah. The United States Department of State officially suspected the Arafat-led Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah of assisting in planning and directing the hostage-taking and assassinations. Yasser Arafat had offered to intervene to end the crisis. This move was viewed by some as an attempt to distance himself and his groups from Black September and the Khartoum crisis.
References
- BBC this day in history - 1 March 1973
- Possible US State Department transmission regarding Black September
- US State Department list of terrorist incidents
- US State Department background note on Sudan
- Khartoum background
- Terrorism Knowledge Base
