This film is the result of historical and journalistic research.
Because of controversial gray areas in Carlos' life,
the film must be viewed as a fiction
tracing two decades in the life of a notorious terrorist.
His relations with other characters have been fictionalized as well.
I nspector Janda here!
Attack at OPEC!
Hands up!
Turn around!
You a cop?
Youssef!
The explosives! Now!
Set them off only if I say so!
Understood?
Khalid!
Find Yamani?
Not yet.
Dr. Hernandez Acosta...
You can stand.
Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia
Oil Minister of iran
In the back, on the left.
Faster!
No talking!
Move it!
I don't get it.
What is it?
Someone's wounded. There are terrorists.
Oil Minister of Algeria
It's a serious wound.
He needs to be operated immediately.
Take him to the police.
Send him to the hospital. Then come back.
Do I have your word?
You do.
Are you a hostage?
Don't move!
Austrian Chancellor
Home Secretary
The terrorists
have requested that the Libyan Ambassador mediate.
But he's in Prague.
The head of the commando shot a Libyan delegate.
It seems Qaddafi is furious.
The Iraqi chargé d'affaires has offered to take his place.
We have no choice.
We must buy time and save Iives.
A DC9 will be ready at dawn.
Keep the other countries informed.
I am, but they're at a standstill.
The PLO made a statement condemning the raid.
Only AIgeria is willing to help us.
I must speak with President Boumedienne.
He's awaiting your call.
Know why Carlos is my nom de guerre?
No, I don't.
For President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
He nationalized the oil industry
as well as the mines.
He redistributed wealth to the needy.
Considered education the 3rd world's main weapon.
He's a revolutionary.
His methods are... rather different from yours.
Perhaps.
I joined the internationalist struggle.
But our convictions are the same.
He's a man of peace
with great respect for human Iife.
So am I.
Men of honor have nothing to fear.
Only traitors need be afraid.
What traitors?
You know full well.
Venezuela's role in OPEC is very clear.
The role of the organization is to help
3rd-world countries in their development.
Not to support imperialists
in maintaining oppression.
Relax.
Only Amouzegar for Iran
and Yamani for Saudi Arabia will have to pay.
The others will be spared.
A group calling itself
the Armed Wing of the Arab Revolution
which is holding the OPEC ministers hostage,
has prepared a declaration in French,
Austrian radio will no w broadcast
the full statement released
by the Armed Wing of the Arab Revolution
of December 21, 1975:
"lt is now clear for everyone
"that the crucial Arab cause
"concerning the Palestinian question
"and subjected to its consequences
"is the object of a major plot
"aiming to legitimize
"Zionist existence on our land
"and to consolidate division, weakness
"and dissension in the Arab world,
"and particularly
"in the region neighboring the occupied Palestinian territory
"in order to allo w the aggressive Zionist state
"to execute its expansionist projects,
"ln addition to these maneuvers
"aimed at forcing Arab and Palestinian recognition
"regarding its legality, the Zionist state,,, "
E xcuse me.
I 'm not M uslim and I'm famished.
Don't you think...
what the revolution needs
is money and not corpses?
What are you saying?
Your hostages are more valuable alive than dead.
Know what, Dr. Hernandez?
Let me be clear.
I'm very well paid.
I have nothing to gain by sparing these dogs.
Understood?
Enjoy your sandwich.
An agreement has been reached
with the hostage-takers,
Every Foreign Secretary
as well as the heads of state
whom I personally consulted
agrees to the measures we have taken
with no restrictions whatsoever
and is grateful to Austria,
In exchange for the release of all OPEC employees
residing in Austria
and not only the Austrian citizens,
currently held by the terrorists,
the commando will be supplied with a DC9,
Their destination?
Algiers,
President Boumedienne has generously offered to mediate
in hope
of bringing this to a close and saving human lives,
We extend our thanks to him,
He's in an ambulance. On his way to the airport.
We will not Ieave
until he's on board. Understood?
If we'd asked for a belly-dance, he'd have done it.
Nada!
It's ok.
Control tower.
They want to talk to you.
They say we're authorized to Iand.
And to use the President's spot.
Excellent.
Tell them we're very honored.
The Foreign Secretary, Abdelaziz Bouteflika,
will negotiate the hostages' release.
Nothing to negotiate.
We free who we have to,
we refuel and we Ieave.
President Boumedienne will meet you in the reception room.
He'II make you an offer.
Those bastards!
Algerian Foreign Secretary
Keep away!
Watch out the door.
Would you really have killed me?
I'd have saved you for Iast.
Listen to me.
And Iisten good.
We're out of fuel. If we don't Iand,
the safety of the hostages will be at risk.
The safety of the hostages will be at risk.
Austrian Ambassadorto Libya
I didn't expect to see you again so soon.
I'm sorry to get you out of bed so Iate.
So things didn't go as planned in Tripoli.
The Libyans betrayed our cause.
I don't think your cause is ours.
- Want one? - No, thank you.
Castro's personal reserve.
Our pilot is exhausted.
And the plane cannot reach our destination.
Give us a Iong-haul plane and we're out of your Iives.
The Saudis are our allies. The Iranians too.
We cannot put their ministers' Iives in danger.
You put them in danger by refusing our conditions.
If things go wrong,
your Iife and those of your men are at stake.
Touch one hair on Yamani's head
on our soil...
and you're all dead.
CIear enough?
Be realistic.
The Saudis are too powerful.
Not one country would risk helping you.
You won't go to Bagdad.
What has Tunisia offered? Nothing.
What has Libya offered? Nothing.
I offer an honorable way out
that can even come off as victory.
Yesterday I mentioned a certain sum.
I'm sure the Saudis would double it.
Can your cause, whatever it is,
afford to spit on 20 million dollars?
What guarantee?
AIgeria's word.
You proved it worthless.
Then that of the Bank of AIgeria!
If you agree,
we'II open an account in the name of your group.
The money will be wired within hours.
My group must not be named.
In your name, then.
Work it out with Mr. Haddad.
We know him well.
He's discreet, wary of needless publicity.
But definitely not indifferent to money.
I'm glad to see you alive.
I know what we owe the AIgerian government.
I'm glad we could help avoid the worst.
But I was scared.
South Yemen, a fewweeks later
Angie, shut up in front of Haddad.
You know I'm right.
We need his support and his money.
Be strategic for once.
Who are you?
Just Iike anyone else.
Is he upset?
An incredible operation by lsraeli Defense Forces
at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda,
Just before midnight, 3 lsraeli aircraft
containing parachutists and soldiers
Ianded on the airstrip where pro-Palestinian militants
held the 105 passengers and crew
of the Air France Airbus hijacked last week,
The surprise attack lasted only an hour,
In Entebbe, lsraeli forces
reportedly killed the entire pro-Palestinian commando,
East Berlin, Autumn 1976
Who are you meeting?
That guy, M ichel.
Carlos, right?
I don't know.
You know the rules.
No questions asked.
German Revolutionary Cells
Can I have a whisky?
Angie?
Anyone home?
Who brought you here?
Don't panic. I'm all alone.
Why shouldn't I panic?
No one knows I'm here.
Right, no one...
except your friends.
Aren't I still a friend?
I don't know. It depends.
You told comrades from the June 2nd Movement
you were starting your own group.
To get them off my back.
It's not true?
They wanted me to buy weapons.
That's not what I'm in this for.
So join us!
Carlos is Ieaving Haddad.
Haddad fired him.
Bagdad has a new government.
They need us.
They're willing to pay. And very well.
Iraqi money doesn't interest me.
I joined the armed struggle to attack the capitalist system.
Not to spread terror.
Understand?
Not to be hired by the PFLP or Bagdad.
The PFLP has been very generous with us.
They help our struggle. We help theirs.
You can keep believing that crap.
I'm through.
You know the rules.
You must go back to Aden.
You must obey the orders they give you.
This is war. You're a soldier. You know it.
I won't go to Aden.
I'm not at war and I'II receive orders from no one.
You know too much.
Names.
PIaces.
Secrets.
You could endanger the whole network.
I know how it works.
I'II stay hidden until I'm forgotten.
I doubt Wadie Haddad would risk it.
- He'II have you killed. - If that's my fate...
Angie!
The cops are Iooking for you!
Two people died in Vienna.
Your picture was in every fucking paper!
You're as good as dead.
I'm no rat.
I know.
But cops have sophisticated methods.
Torture.
Drugs.
If they want you to talk,
you'II talk.
You say you're my friend.
I trust you.
But if Haddad says to, you'II kill me with no misgivings.
Right?
That's why I'm no Ionger with you.
And it's why, once you Ieave, I'II disappear.
You'II never find me again.
Check this out.
Know what's inside?
My revolver.
And my resignation from the armed struggle.
Do you give names?
But I say what I know.
About plans to attack 2 Jewish community Ieaders.
If I shut up, I'II never forgive myself!
Boni...
Boni separated the Jews at Entebbe Iike in Auschwitz!
I'm an enemy of Zionism.
I've proved it.
But anti-Semitism: count me out.
I thought you were alone.
Run.
Anything to declare?
Open the trunk.
Two months later
Head of KGB
As you know, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
is a Ioyal ally of the Palestinian cause,
of the Third World
and of all revolutions.
Our coffers are open,
our advisors on hand,
our soldiers ready to shed their blood.
I know all of you.
I've worked with some of you.
You know me as well.
The USSR is a fearsome enemy to those who betray its cause.
For them, there is but one sentence:
death.
The Egyptian president, Anwar EI Sadat,
has benefited from our generosity for many years.
His country has profited from the Iabors of Soviet workers.
But he has turned his back on us.
He is ignoring his huge debt toward us.
He spits in our faces.
He humiliates his country,
the entire Arab world,
all revolutionaries at war
who are dying for our cause.
He has bowed down before American imperialism
and has become the manservant of the Zionists
who occupy your holiest Iands.
He must pay the price.
Today,
in three months,
in six months,
in one year, if necessary...
he will be held accountable.
Bear in mind, gentlemen,
whoever carries out the aforementioned sentence
will benefit from our unlimited financial support.
Let's hope for the best.
There's a woman waiting for you.
German Revolutionary Cells
East Berlin, November 1978
It was quick.
Leukemia kills quickly.
So does poison.
OPEC Terrorist Klein Resigns
Stasi Headquarters
Section XXll of the Stasi
Terrorist Group lnterface
Head of Section XXll
Mr. Weinrich.
How are you, my boy?
Good, thank you.
May I?
Since our last meeting,
the situation is even tenser.
The Americans,,,
have green-lighted the MX Missile Program,
They're forcing the USSR to spend more on defense
bleeding the Soviet economy dry
and creating international tension,
Good point, my boy.
You're right about the intent of American imperialists,
but it will only strengthen Soviet resolve
and rally socialist countries, with East Germany at the fore.
In our opinion the Eastern BIock could use
more commandos Iike ours
to wage the fight at the vanguard.
We do it for you and for 3rd-world countries.
This is why we need your help.
We have official contacts and bases set up in Prague,
Budapest and Sofia,
The Soviets let us transit weapons,
Now we need you to give us permission
to set up a base in East Berlin,
On one condition : you take no action in West Germany
while transiting to and from base. Is that clear?
Of course.
I'II think it over.
My deputy, Major Voigt, will inform you of my decision.
Naturally, you have our sympathy and our friendship.
Thank you.
We've been informed of a plan to assassinate Sadat.
It's not true.
If ever you did consider it... I ask that you give up.
Those are unfounded rumors.
I'm sure of it, my boy.
Damascus, Syria
Syrian Air Force lntelligence
Syrian Air Force Headquarters
The General is waiting.
Head of Syrian Air Force lntelligence
PART TWO
Subtitles: Andrew Litvack
Subtitling : CMC - Paris