Terror Targets

The world's diplomats are rightfully worried. According to a new report by the Rand Corp., there have been 42 terrorist assaults on diplomatic missions since 1971; almost half of them have taken place in the past two years. Egyptian and American missions have been the most frequent targets of these assaults (five apiece). Attacks have occurred in 25 countries--eight in El Salvador alone. The adjacent columns present a chronology, in text and pictures, of some of these assaults.

BANGKOK, Dec. 28, 1972 Four armed Palestinian "Black September" terrorists seize Israeli embassy and six hostages, demand release of 36 commandos held in Israeli prisons. After negotiations with Thai government officials lasting 19 hours, they surrender hostages and fly to Egypt.

KHARTOUM, March 1, 1973 During a reception for arriving and departing U.S. envoys, Black September terrorists take over Saudi Arabian embassy, kill both U.S. diplomats and a Belgian charge d'affaires. They surrender to Sudanese authorities after three days, free three other hostages.

PARIS, Sept. 5, 1973 Five Arab terrorists break into the Saudi embassy and seize 13 hostages, demanding release of a Fatah leader imprisoned in Jordan. They release some hostages but take four others with them to Kuwait, where the terrorists surrender hostages and themselves two days later.

KUWAIT, Feb. 7, 1974 Palestinians take over Japanese embassy, hold ambassador and ten others hostage. Their goal: release of besieged Japanese Red Army and Palestinian commandos who had been holding hostages for a week on a Singapore ferryboat. The hostages are finally freed, and the guerrillas fly to Aden.

THE HAGUE, Sept 13, 1974 Three Japanese Red Army terrorists force release of a fourth colleague, held in a French prison, by seizing French embassy and eleven hostages. The four terrorists demand--and get--a ransom of $1 million, fly to Damascus on a French plane and surrender to P.L.O.

STOCKHOLM, April 24, 1975 Terrorists seize West German embassy to demand release of 26 Baader-Meinhof gang members being held in German prisons. They set off explosion in building. Two diplomats and one terrorist die in firefight with police before terrorists surrender; ten other hostages are released.

MADRID, Sept. 15, 1975 Four armed Palestinian terrorists break into Egyptian embassy, take three hostages and threaten to blow up the building unless Cairo renounces the Sinai pact with Israel. Flown to Algiers with five hostages, terrorists surrender to the P.L.O. All the hostages are freed.

AMSTERDAM, Dec. 4, 1975 Demanding independence for the South Moluccan Archipelago, gunmen seize the Indonesian consulate, taking 30 hostages, including 16 children. Negotiations obtain release of some children. Terrorists surrender after 16-day siege, during which one prisoner dies, three are injured while escaping.

VIENNA, Dec. 21, 1975 Three are killed and seven wounded when six pro-Palestinian terrorists seize 81 persons attending an OPEC conference. Among them are several oil ministers. The terrorists fly to Algiers, then Tripoli, releasing some hostages, finally surrender in Algiers two days later.

NEW YORK, June 15, 1977 Three members of a Croatian nationalist separatist movement shoot their way into the Yugoslav Mission to the U.N. seeking to take the ambassador hostage; they wound a chauffeur and throw anti-Tito leaflets from embassy windows before surrendering to police.

PARIS, July 31, 1978 An Arab terrorist shoots his way into the Iraqi embassy, takes eight hostages. He surrenders nine hours later, but as he is led away, Iraqi security guards open fire on him. In the ensuing melee, one security guard and one policeman are killed; the terrorist and three others wounded.

KUWAIT, March 26, 1979 Palestinians storm Egypt's embassy to protest conclusion of a peace treaty with Israel. Also outraged by the treaty, militant Arab students in Bangladesh's capital of Dacca seize the Egyptian ambassador's residence, holding him and others hostage at gunpoint for eight hours.

SAN SALVADOR, May 4, 1979 Leftist guerrillas seize ambassadors and others as hostages in French and Costa Rican embassies; they demand land reform and release of key political prisoners. A week later they take over the Venezuelan embassy. Some hostages are held for a month before release.

ANKARA, July 13, 1979 Palestinian terrorists attack Egyptian embassy, kill two Turkish security guards and take 19 hostages. They demand that Turkey denounce the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, sever relations with both countries and recognize a "Palestinian state." Terrorists surrender and release hostages two days later.

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan. 31, 1980 Peasants and students seize Spanish embassy to protest army repression. As security forces attack building, a Molotov cocktail thrown by an intruder starts a fire; 39 are burned to death, including most of the intruders, two embassy staffers and two Guatemalan officials.

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