Innsbruck, October 16, 1977
The Terror Scene
Since weeks, news reports in the German Federal Republic have been dominated by the terror scene. At first, one had taken waiting for hours on end at the border crossing from Austria to Germany, especially on the Walserberg near Salzburg and in Kufstein, in good stride with the understanding that intensified border controls were necessary. One also acquiesced in the belief that this crisis will go by and solve itself. But by the hijacking of a Lufthansa airplane on its flight from Mallorca to Frankfurt, it has become clear that this terror scene is being commanded by an international conspiracy.
While the public at large fears for the life of the president of the German Federation of Industry, Hans-Martin Schleyer, who was kidnapped, the anxiety about the fate of the 87 hostages on board the hijacked Lufthansa airplane is growing. They have been holding out for five days and were flown today from Dubai to Aden. While one ultimatum follows another, the mad and brutal behavior of the hostage takers is hardening. If it has not already become clear for a long time, the present hostage crisis proves that international terror can only be reined in by concerted action of all countries who are members of the United Nations.
October 23, 1977
The hostage crisis of the hijacked Lufthansa aircraft has come to a good end in Mogadisho, the lives of the 87 passengers could be saved. But with unimaginable brutality, the pilot of the aircraft was shot before the eyes of the hostages. Just as merciless, the terrorists killed Hans-Martin Schleyer. Terrorism cries out for an international intervention. Under the pressure of airline pilots, the UN put the fight against terrorism and air piracy on the agenda of the next session of the General Assembly.
[Hans-Martin Schleyer, born 1915, an expert on industrial management, since 1955 was on the board of trustees of Daimler-Benz AG, since 1973 president of the German Employers’ Association, and since 1976 president of the German Federation of Industry. Schleyer was kidnapped by the terrorist group “Red Army Fraction” on September 5, 1977. On October 18, 1977, his body was found in Mulhouse, across the German border in France.]