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Part two - 106 minutes Part three - 115 minutes
The majority of this second episode is devoted to a detailed
account of the operation that remains one of the most
spectacular terrorist acts of the period. Leading a group
of six militants – leftists from German Revolutionary Cells
and Palestinian militants including Anis Naccache – Carlos
seizes control of the OPEC headquarters, taking ministers
and accompanying delegates hostage. He is at the height
of his notoriety in the media. However, by finally releasing
the ministers at Algiers airport in exchange for a large
ransom, he fails the mission that Haddad had given him.
This marks the end of relations between the two men.
From now on, Carlos becomes a mercenary for hire
to whichever country offers the most. First Iraq, then Syria.
He switches operations to behind the Iron Curtain, moving
between Budapest and East Berlin under the protection
of the Stasi. He works with the remnants of the Revolutionary
Cells, in particular Johannes Weinrich and his wife
Magdalena Kopp, who soon leaves Weinrich for Carlos.
Carlos’ band, based in Budapest and protected by Syria,
fosters links with various clients interested in their particular
capabilities, among them Ceausescu’s Romania and
Libya. This intense activity of geopolitical destabilization,
orchestrated by Carlos who is trafficking arms, handling
huge sums of cash and leading the life of the Godfather
of European terrorism, is soon to come to an end.
His decline is of course closely linked to the changes
in the world order. With the fall of the Berlin Wall,
he loses several of his backers and his arena
of operation is drastically reduced. The last place offering
refuge is Sudan: Carlos is by now a retired terrorist,
tracked by the secret services of several countries,
abandoned by his closest allies, a long way from the center
stage of international politics. His role as a player is over;
he is left to observe the shifts in global power from
a distance. With the complicity of the Sudanese authorities,
he is captured and brought back to Paris, to stand trial
for crimes that have not been forgotten in France.
Alexander Scheer and Nora von Waldstätten