A state of alert declared at Ben Gurion Airport early this afternoon was lifted this evening after authorities learned that an Air France 707 jet carrying three terrorists from Orly Airport near Paris had landed in Baghdad. The escape plane, manned by a volunteer flight crew and reportedly with fuel for only a six hour flight, was reported heading for the Middle East.
Israel authorities confirmed that the plane had requested permission to land at Beirut airport but was refused. The Lebanese authorities blocked the runway with vehicles and equipment making a landing impossible. The plane then headed eastwards and after Damascus closed its airport, landed at Baghdad. According to reports from Beirut, the plane landed at the Iraqi capital at 3:30 p.m. local time.
Official sources in Jerusalem said today that Israel regards the Orly terrorists as an integral part of the Palestine Liberation Organization despite the PLO’s disclaimers of responsibility for yesterday’s attack at Orly and for the Jan. 13 bazooka attack on an El Al jet at the same airport. “It is a well known fact that the PLO is continuously trying to attack Israel wherever and whenever possible,” the source said.
FRANCE BLAMED FOR ATTACKS
Although a terrorist group calling itself the Mohammed Boudia Commando claimed responsibility for both attacks at Orly, the Israeli sources said all tracks lead to the PLO. “It is not the first time that a group appears with a new name, enabling the PLO to appear innocent while it continues to plan actions against Israeli targets,” the sources said, Mohammed Boudia was an Algerian killed in a bomb explosion in Paris two years ago, an act attributed by some to Israeli counter-terrorist agents.
Israeli circles appeared bitter today that the French authorities provided an escape plane for the Orly terrorists. Saving the lives of the hostages was a great achievement but letting the terrorists go so easily “is only an encouragement to further acts of terror,” one source said. The circles claimed that France has become a safe place for terrorists to operate because they can be sure that France’s official pro-Arab attitude will cause them no harm.
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