Carlos the Jackal admits 2000 killings

PARIS

Supporters of ‘Carlos the Jackal,’ march to the Foreign Ministry in Caracas. AFP photo

A defiant and smiling Carlos the Jackal, one of the most dreaded terror masterminds of the Cold War, has gone on trial again, this time over four deadly attacks in France nearly three decades ago.
The 62-year-old Venezuelan, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, went before a special Paris court on terrorism-linked charges Nov. 7. He is already serving a life sentence handed down for a triple murder in 1975.
When asked about his profession he identified himself to the court as “a professional revolutionary” striking a combative pose from the outset. Ramirez, who sowed fear across Western European and Middle Eastern capitals during the Cold War, is charged with instigating four attacks in 1982 and 1983 that killed 11 people and injured more than 140 others in France.
He has denied any role in the attacks. The trial is expected to last six weeks, and if convicted, Ramirez could face a second life sentence, the top penalty in France, which does not have the death penalty. On Nov. 6, Carlos boasted in an interview with Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional of committing more than 100 attacks. Asked about civilian casualties, he told the paper: “There were very few. I calculated that they were fewer than 10 percent. So out of 1,500 to 2,000 killed, there were not more than 200 civilian victims.”