File: Germany held talks with mastermind of Munich massacre
Secret documents uncovered in Berlin reveal that in late 1970s, West Germany tried to elicit PLO's help in order to fight local Baader-Meinhof terror group
BERLIN – Secret documents found in the private archives of a former West Germany government official reveal that in the late 1970s, the German government was engaged in clandestine negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
According to the documents, one of the representatives taking part in the talks was the PLO's Ali Hassan Salameh – the mastermind of the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympic Games.
The document, found by a Berlin-based historian, indicated that the West Germany government held covert talks with PLO members as part of its efforts to curb the action of the Baader-Meinhof terror group.
The PLO apparently offered the Germans their assistance in subduing the self-proclaimed urban guerrilla group, which at the time was in cahoots with various Palestinian resistance groups, in exchange for Berlin's recognition of the PLO.
Salameh, the head of Force 17 and a Black September operative, was an active participant in the talks. The Palestinian promised to relay any pertinent information regarding the German terrorists to the West German government, so any possible attacks may be thwarted.
Nevertheless, the PLO stressed at the time that it would not turn their German friend over to Berlin authorities. Salameh himself was tracked down by Israeli intelligence and assassinated in Beirut in 1979.
