The German government held secret negotiations with the organizers of the terrorist attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics, according to Focus — citing its own investigation magazine Der Spiegel. Journalists discovered this information from documents in the political archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Archives in Koblenz.

After the terrorist attack, the German government offered to hold secret talks between the then foreign minister, Walter Scheel, and the PLO, whose members participated in the preparation for the attack.

The purpose of the meeting, as stated in the archival documents, was to create «a new basis of trust.» In this case, the German government did not require the Palestinians to guarantee that they would not resort to terror. The main precondition advanced by the Germans was a cessation of attacks within Germany.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, for its part, demanded German political support.

The terrorist attack on the Olympics in 1972 was organized by Black September, a radical wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Eight persons carried out the terrorist attack, entering the Israeli national team's lodgings, killing two athletes and taking another nine hostage. In exchange for their release, the terrorists demanded the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.

Golda Meir's government refused to fulfill their demands and gave the Germans permission to conduct a military operation against terrorists. The operation failed, however, and all the hostages were killed, in addition to a German policeman. At the same time, five of the militants were eliminated, while the other three were taken into custody. As we learned from Der Spiegel's investigative journalism, the German authorities at the time tried to cover up the operation's failure by destroying some of the documents.

It is not known who (from the PLO) negotiated with the German government of Germany after the terror attack. The media were only able to find out that they were from the Palestine Liberation Organization, and connected with the seizure of hostages in Munich.

Apparently it was due to agreements reached back then that German prosecutors at the time did not open a case against the perpetrators or organizers of the attack. The three arrested terrorists were exchanged a few weeks later for the passengers and crew of a Lufthansa flight that had been hijacked by members of Black September.

As for the organizers of the attack, Germany has not conducted any investigation into them. According to The Jerusalem Post, the Germans had the opportunity to try at least one of them — Abu Dawud, when he was arrested in France. French police were sent to Germany to offer his extradition, but the Bavarian authorities made no move. As a result, Dawud was released and was able to move unhindered to Syria, where he died in July of 2010.

Lenta.ru report

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