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December 20, 2005
Germany Secretly Frees Hizballah Terrorist Wanted By The US For Killing US Navy Diver - In Exchange For German Hostage In Iraq
Topics: War on TerrorDEBKAfile reports that despite a US extradition request, Germany secretly released Hizballah terrorist Mohammed Ali Hammadi, who was serving life without parole for murdering Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem while hijacking a TWA flight to Beirut in 1985. Hamadi was quietly flown back to Lebanon, despite his 1987 indictment for murder in the US and Washington's request for his extradition.
Ernst Uhrlau, Angela Merkel's new head of the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service, is revealed by DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources as the man behind Berlin's secret decision to trade German archeologist Susanne Osthoff kidnapped in Iraq on Nov. 25 for the jailed Hizballah terrorist wanted in America, Mohammad Ali Hammadi.
Osthoff, had converted to Islam and speaks fluent Arabic, and was living in Iraq at the time of her kidnapping - she was there by choice.
This is the first time since al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks in America that a senior European ally in America's global war on terror has succumbed to enemy pressure and bought a hostage's release by freeing a convicted terrorist.
Posted by Richard at December 20, 2005 4:07 PM
Why am I not surprised? Thanks Germany for letting us know who are real allies are. And you wonder why Americans do not have a positive vibe about Europe?
Posted by: hiddennook 
at December 20, 2005 8:14 PM
Is there really ANY reason that we are keeping troops there? Pull them all out and let the German economy collapse.
Posted by: AndyJ at December 20, 2005 11:04 PM
Articles Related to War on Terror:
- Germany Secretly Frees Hizballah Terrorist Wanted By The US For Killing US Navy Diver - In Exchange For German Hostage In Iraq - Dec 20, 2005
