A violent criminal suspected of being the main link between West German neo-Nazis and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s El Fatah faction is believed to be hiding somewhere in East Germany, according to the federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe.
Federal sources said Sunday that the East German authorities were cooperating in the search for Udo Albrecht, who is wanted for a series of violent crimes, including bank robbery.
According to the prosecution, he fled West Germany in 1981 and found haven in East Germany, which was governed by a Communist regime until earlier this year.
Albrecht, who has boasted of direct access to PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat, is believed to have used PLO facilities in Lebanon to train West German neo-Nazis.
If the suspicions of the Karlsruhe prosector prove correct, it will be the first conclusive proof that the former East German secret police, the Stasi, not only helped Palestinian terrorists but knowingly protected neo-Nazis.
The media has carried reports in recent years indicating that the old East German regime initiated neo-Nazi incidents in West Germany to prove the Federal Republic was a haven for unrepentant Nazis and anti-Semites.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
