Carlos the Jackal goes back to court

PARIS, France -- International terrorist Carlos the Jackal has gone back to court -- as a witness in the trial of a German accused of taking part in an attack on an OPEC conference 25 years ago.

The Venezuelan-born Carlos said he plotted the December 21, 1975, attack on the oil ministers' meeting in Vienna that left three people dead.

The terrorist, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, told the court: "I know the operation like the back of my hand. I planned it."

The 51-year-old, hinting at Libyan involvement, said the operation took shape in October 1975.

But the German judge cut him short when Ramirez was talking about Middle East politics, and asked whether he knew a Hans-Joachim Klein, an alleged accomplice.

Ramirez was testifying in Paris as part of the trial of Klein in Germany.

French authorities refused to transfer Ramirez to Germany for security reasons.

Klein, 52, is charged with three counts of murder and three of attempted murder in the OPEC attack.

He denies shooting any of those killed -- an OPEC employee, an Iraqi bodyguard and an Austrian policeman.

But Ramirez, who is serving a life term in France for murdering three people, told the court that Klein shot the Iraqi.

In the OPEC attack, the terrorists took 70 hostages, negotiated with Austrian authorities and flew to Algeria with 35 of the hostages, where they were released.

Klein, who was shot in the stomach in the OPEC raid, and Ramirez then disappeared, reportedly taking refuge in the Middle East.

Klein was arrested on September 8, 1998 in a village in the Normandy region of France, where he had lived under an assumed name for five years.

Ramirez says he killed 83 people. He has also been linked to the 1976 hijacking of an Air France jet to Entebbe, Uganda.

He was captured in Khartoum, Sudan, on August 14 1994, and taken to Paris by French agents.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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'Carlos The Jackal' convicted, sentenced to life in prison
December 23, 1997

German courts
OPEC

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