One of the most notorious international terrorists during the later stages of the Twentieth Century, Carlos the Jackal, spent three days in 1976 as a guest of Communist Yugoslavia, a defacto ally of the West, according to US diplomatic cables published in wikileaks.
Carlos, real name Ilich Ramirez, posed as an Algerian professor during his visit to Yugoslavia between September 6 to 9th, 1976.
The Yugoslav Interior Ministry had informed the West German authorities of Carlos’ visit but then tried to backtack by saying it was a case of mistaken identity–it was not Carlos but a genuine Algerian professor.
The US diplomatic cable makes the wry observation that a large number SDB (UDBa – Yugoslav intelligence) Agents were at Belgrade airport.
Both the German and Amierican authorities, including the FBI, were no longer trusting of the Yugoslav Interior Ministry.
In another US diplomatic cable, American analysts discuss Communist Yugoslavia’s indulgence in conspiracy theories involving Washington’s alleged attempt to destablise Yugoslavia. The US regarded Yugoslavia as a defacto ally during the Cold War because of its independent socialist orbit away from the Soviet Union.
www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976BELGRA06081_b.html
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INFO OCT-01 SS-14 ISO-00 SAJ-01 NSC-05 NSCE-00 SP-02 INR-05
CIAE-00 EB-03 L-01 PRS-01 IO-03 DODE-00 /044 W
——————— 009590
P 160945Z SEP 76
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8071
INFO AMEMBASSY BONN PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY
USMISSION NATO PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BELGRADE 6081
LIMDIS
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: PFOR YO FR US PINS IT
SUBJ: CARLOS ISSUE
REF: (A) PARIS 26714, (B) ROME 14971
1. IN APPRAISING YUGOSLAV INTERPOL REPORT AND ZARIC’S
COMMENTS REFTEL (A), ADDRESSEES SHOULD KEEP IN MIND
THAT THE YUGOSLAVS THEMSELVES ADMITTED TO THE FRG EMBASSY
IN BELGRADE THAT CARLOS ARRIVED HERE SEPTEMBER 6. FURTHER,
THERE WERE LARGE NUMBER OF SDB AGENTS AT AIRPORT FOR
ARRIVAL SEPT 6 AND DEPARTURE SEPT 9, WHICH HARDLY
NECESSARY FOR “ALGERIAN TV TEAM” THAT IS STILL
SUPPOSED TO BE IN BELGRADE.
2. THE YUGOSLAV LINE NOW IS THAT IT WAS A CASE OF
MISTAKEN IDENTITY. BUT WE SHOULD NOT BEGIN TO HAVE
SELF-DOUBTS, AND SHOULD HOLD YUGOSLAVIA TO ACCOUNT
ON THE CARLOS MATTER IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR OWN
ADMISSIONS TO THE GERMANS.
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3. BONN: BELIEVE BASED ON WHAT FRG EMBASSY HAS TOLD US
ABOUT TIMING AND DETAILED CONTENT OF CARLOS ARTICLE IN DER
SPEIGEL THAT FRG FOREIGN MINISTRY CHOSE NOT TO MAKE PUBLIC THE
BELGRADE CARLOS CAPER BUT SOMEONE IN BONN (PERHAPS INTERIOR
MINISTRY) HELD SPIEGEL PRESSES OPEN TO WAIT FOR INFORMATION
SENT BY GERMAN EMBASSY HERE LATE LAST FRIDAY (I.E., THE
“ALGERIAN PROFESSOR” COVER).
4. ROME: CARLOS WAS HERE SEPT 6-9 BUT WE HAVE NO
INFO RE USE US PASSPORTS. DEFER TO DEPARTMENT FOR
GUIDANCE RE INFO FOR TWA.
SILBERMAN
NNN
www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976BELGRA06271_b.html
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INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 FBIE-00 EB-07 SAJ-01 PM-04 NSC-05 SP-02
SS-15 INR-07 DODE-00 IO-13 L-03 PRS-01 /071 W
——————— 092475
R 241115Z SEP 76
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8168
INFO AMEMBASSY BONN
C O N F I D E N T I A L BELGRADE 6271
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO FBI
EO 11652 NA
TAGS: PFOR YO US PINS
SUBJ: CARLOS
REF: (A) BELGRADE 6081, (B) BELGRADE 2671
1. COUNSELOR FRG EMBASSY TOLD ME EVENING SEPT 22 THAT
DER SPIEGEL LEAK ON CARLOS STORY HAD TO BE WORK OF VERY
SENIOR LEVEL IN FRG GOVERNMENT, PROBABLY FOREIGN MINISTRY,
REPEATING REASONS IN REF A.
2. HE FURTHER SAID FRG INTERIOR MINISTRY HAS “LEARNED
THEIR LESSON” CONCERNING COOPERATION WITH GOY INTERIOR
MINISTRY.
3. AS I INDICATED TO STATE DEPT REF B, I HAVE COME TO
CONCLUSION THAT FBI WAS INITIALLY CORRECT IN REFUSING
LIAISON WITH YUGOSLAV INTERIOR MINISTRY. GERMANS NOW
CONCLUDE IT IS A ONE-WAY STREET.
SILBERMAN
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NNN
————————————————————–
In another US diplomatic cable, American analysts discuss Communist Yugoslavia’s indulgence in conspiracy theories involving Washington’s alleged attempt to destablise Yugoslavia.
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ACTION EUR-12
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 PM-04 H-01 INR-07 L-03
NSAE-00 NSC-05 PA-01 PRS-01 SP-02 SS-15 USIA-06
TRSE-00 /058 W
——————— 090833 /13
R 211555Z DEC 76
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9038
INFO AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
USMISSION NATO
AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
AMEMBASSY ROME
AMEMBASSY SOFIA
AMEMBASSY WARSAW
AMCONSUL ZAGREB
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 1 OF 3 BELGRADE 8320
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: PFOR, YO, US
SUBJECT: FRIEND OR FOE?: THE YUGOSLAV PERCEPTION OF THE UNITED
STATES
REF: BELGRADE 1725 (NOTAL)
1. SUMMARY: FROM AND AMERICAN STANDPOINT, THE MOST
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF YUGOSLAVIA IS ITS RELATIVE
INDEPENDENCE FROM MOSCOW. AMERICANS CONCEIVE OF THEM-
SELVES AS ALLIES OF THE YUGOSLAVS IN MAINTAINING THAT
INDEPENDENCE. YUGOSLAVIA’S COMMUNIST ELITE, HOWEVER,
HAS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX ATTITUDE TOWARD THE U.S. IT IS
BASED ON MARXISM, NON-ALIGNMENT, ETHNOCENTRISM, BALKAN
PARANOIA AND A BLEND OF MISINFORMATION AND HARD FACTS.
YUGOSLAVIA’S LEADERS FEEL THREATENED NOT ONLY BY
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SOVIET IMPERIALISM, BUT ALSO BY WESTERN-INSPIRED
COUNTER-REVOLUTION AND WESTERN-BACKED NATIONALISM.
THEY VIEW THE UNITED STATES MORE AS FOE THAN FRIEND
AND TEND TO TAKE FOR GRANTED OUR CONTRIBUTION TO
THEIR SECURITY AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING. A NUMBER OF
THEIR PERCEPTIONS ARE DISTORTED, STEMMING FROM THEIR OWN
IDEOLOGICIAL PRECONCEPTIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, THE
YUGOSLAV LEADERSHIP DOES NOT ERR IN SEEING US AS ADVERSARIES
ON A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES AND WE MUST EXPECT A CONTINUATION
OF BASIC SUSPICION AND FRICTION FROM WHICH WE SHOULD NOT
RECOIL. END SUMMARY.
2. WHEN CROATIAN NATIONALIST HIJACKED A TWA PLANE IN
SEPTEMBER, STATEMENTS LIKE THESE WERE COMMON IN THE
CONTROLLED YUGOSLAV PRESS: –“(THE HIJACKING) REVEALS
AN UNDERGROUND PLOT BETWEEN MERCENARIES OF YUGOSLAV
ORIGIN AND INFLUENTIAL REACTIONARY MAGNATES ACROSS THE
ATLANTIC …–(THE HIJACKERS) HAVE OBTAINED AN INFLUENTIAL
AND POWERFUL MASTER IN CERTAIN AMERICAN CIRCLES, WHICH
USE THEM AS THEIR WEAPON IN ACTION AGAINST SOCIALIST
AND NON-ALIGNED YUGOSLAVIA,–(THE HIJACKING) IS JUST
ONE IN A SERIES OF CAREFULLY PLANNED ANTI-YUGOSLAV ACTS
CONCEIVED IN CERTAIN VERY POWERFUL AND VERY INFLUENTIAL
CIRCLES.”
3. SUCH ACCUSATIONS CLASH SO SEVERELY WITH OUR OWN IMAGE
OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF ITS ATTITUDE TOWARD
YUGOSLAVIA THAT WE MUST ASK HOW THEY COULD BE MADE. ARE
THE YUGOSLAVS TRYING TO FOSTER DOMESTIC UNITY BY CREATING
IMAGINARY DANGERS FROM ABROAD? ARE THEY TRYING TO “BALANCE”
THEIR OCCASIONALLY CONTENTIOUS STATEMENTS ABOUT THE
SOVIET UNION? OR DO THEY REALLY BELIEVE THAT “REACTIONARY
CIRCLES” IN THE U.S. ARE MOUNTING AN ANTI-YUGOSLAV CAM-
PAIGN, USING EMIGRE TERRORISTS AS ONE INSTRUMENT? SUCH
A VIEW OF AMERICAN BEHAVIOR IS USEFUL TO THE LEADERSHIP
SINCE NO DISTINCTION IS DRAWN BETWEEN VIOLENT AND ILLEGAL
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ACTIVITIES YUGOSLAV EMIGRES ABROAD ON THE ONE HAND,
AND LEGAL ANTI-COMMUNIST POLITICAL ACTIVITY WHICH THE
YUGOSLAV LEADERSHIP REGARDS AS EQUALLY OR PERHAPS EVEN
MORE THREATENING. BUT, AS STRANGE AS IT MAY SEEM TO
THOUGHTFUL AMERICANS, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INDICATIONS
THAT MANY YUGOSLAV COMMUNISTS SINCERELY BELIEVE WHAT THEY
SAY. AN AMERICAN STUDYING HERE FINDS THAT HIS STUDENT
FRIENDS WHO BELONG TO THE LEAGUE OF COMMUNISTS ALL BELIEVE
THAT THE CIA WAS BEHIND THE HIJACKING. FSFA DIRECTOR
FOR NORTH AMERICAN AFFAIRS SAYS HE IS CONVINCED FBI EITHER
ORGANIZED HIJACKING OR KNEW ABOUT IT IN ADVANCE. HOW
CAN INFLUENTIAL, SERIOUS YUGOSLAVS REACH THESE CONCLUSIONS?
4. AMERICANS TEND TO VIEW YUGOSLAVIA PRIMARILY IN TERMS
OF ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SOVIET UNION. WE SEE OUR
MAIN ROLE AS ASSISTING THE YUGOSLAVS TO MAINTAIN THEIR
INDEPENDENCE FROM MOSCOW, PARTICULARLY AFTER TITO. WE
EXPECT THE YUGOSLAVS TO SEE US AS A FRIEND.
5. WHILE MANY YUGOSLAV “MEN IN THE STREET” MAY HAVE
THIS VIEW OF BENIGN UNITED STATES, YUGOSLAVIA’S
COMMUNIST ELITE HAS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX VIEW OF OUR
RELATIONSHIP. WHILE THEY CREDIT US WITH SOME USEFULNESS
IN KEEPING THE RUSSIANS OFF THEIR BACKS, AS MARXISTS AND
LEADERS OF THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT, WITH AN ETHNO-
CENTRIC BALKAN MENTALITY, AN UNSOPHISTICATED UNDER-
STANDING OF THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN SOME FACTUAL
JUSTIFICATION, THIS ELITE SUSPECTS OUR INTENTIONS AND
FEARS US AS A THREAT, DIFFERENT IN NATURE BUT PERHAPS
EVEN GREATER THAN MOSCOW.
6. YUGOSLAVIA’S POLITICAL LEADERS ARE MARXISTS. THEY
ARE CREATIVE AND HAVE MODIFIED MOARXIST DOGMA AS UNDER-
STOOD IN THE SOVIET UNION, BUT THEY MAINTAIN THEIR
MARXIST VIEW OF THE WORLD. MARXISM HAS NOT BEEN IMPOSED
ON THEM FROM ABROAD AS IT HAS BEEN ELSEWHERE IN EASTERN
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EUROPE: THEY CHOSE IT ON THEIR OWN. IN 1948 IT WAS
STALIN WHO REJECTED TITO AND NOT VICE VERSA. YUGOSLAV
COMMUNISTS RESIST SOVIET HEGEMONY, BUT NOT COMMUNISM,
AND A BUST OF LENIN IS POSITIONED AS PROMINENTLY AS TITO’S
PORTRAIT IN THE LOBBY OF THE LEAGUE OF COMMUNISTS
BUILDING.
7. THE YUGOSLAVS RECENTLY SPONSORED A CONFERENCE ON
“SOCIALISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD” FOR SOCIALISTS
AND COMMUNISTS FROM MANY COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE SOVIET
UNION. WHILE SENIOR YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS (BAKARIC, GRLICKOV
AND DUSAN POPOVIC) DENOUNCED THE IMPOSITION OF ANY ONE
MODEL FOR SOCIALIST STATES, THEY EXPRESSED STETIMENTS
LIKE THESE:
–“PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE REPRESENTS THE INTERNATIONAL
POLITICAL FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH THE CLASS STRUGGLE
IS BEING CARRIED ON…MARXISM IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE
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Well, foreign secret service destroyed Yugoslavia at the end.