Israel asked France officially today to detain the Palestinian terrorist Mouhammed Daoud Auda, alias Abu Daoud, pending a formal extradition request. Daoud who was arrested in Paris Friday is believed to have planned the murders of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Although the Israeli Ambassador in Paris. Mordechai Gazit, was instructed by Foreign Minister Yigal Allon to ask the French authorities to hold Daoud in temporary detention, a request for extradition is expected shortly. Sources here said the delay was necessitated to allow Israeli authorities time to carefully formulate the charges against Daoud and the evidence that will form the basis of the extradition request. France and Israel have an extradition treaty, signed in 1958 and ratified by the French government in 1971.
Israeli law allows the State to try any person who committed a crime abroad that resulted in the death of an Israeli citizen, provided that the act is a criminal offense under the laws of the country where it was perpetrated. There is no doubt whatsoever that West Germany regards the Munich massacre as a criminal act. The Bonn government, in fact, is expected to ask for Daoud’s extradition.
In that case, the French government would have to decide which country’s extradition request deserved priority consideration. According to its extradition treaty with Israel, the country most closely connected to the crime–in this case West Germany–would have prior claim on the suspect.
Another complication may arise from a clause in the treaty which bars extradition for political crimes. There is a possibility that France may define Daoud’s offenses as political crimes.
BEREAVED FAMILIES DEMAND EXTRADITION
Meanwhile, families of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered in the 1972 Munich massacre called on the government to demand the extradition of Daoud. The National Sports Association sent cables to the Olympic committees of both West Germany and France calling on them to act urgently to put Daoud on trial. The association said that the ugly crime in Munich demanded severe measures against those responsible.
The Knesset is expected to discuss the issue tomorrow following four urgent motions to the agenda submitted today.
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.
