Carlos claims Jews responsible for his alleged terrorist attacks

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (JTA) — The international terrorist known as “Carlos the Jackal” is attempting to blame Jews for the crimes he is accused of committing. At his trial Monday in Paris, Carlos, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, denounced the proceedings against him as a “judicial scandal.” “I refuse to prostitute myself in this abstract rite,” he said, claiming that he was the victim of a “Zionist plot.” He is on trial for the 1975 killings of two French intelligence agents who were investigating his role in a series of attacks on El Al Airlines at Paris’ Orly Airport. He is also believed to have been involved in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France jetliner to Entebbe, Uganda, prompting a daring Israeli commando operation to rescue the flight’s Jewish hostages. Carlos’ three defense lawyers withdrew from the case this week after the court refused to investigate his claim that the killings were carried out by the CIA and Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service. Carlos, who faces a 30-year prison sentence for each of the 1975 killings, was convicted in absentia in 1992. Under French law, he must be retried now that he is in French custody. His trial, which began last Friday, is expected to last one week.