Bonn hunts ‘terrorist’ four freed by Tito’s courts

Press, 20 November 1978, Page 8

Bonn hunts ‘terrorist’ four freed by Tito’s courts

NZPA-Reuter Bonn West Germany has launched an international search for four suspected terrorists freed in Yugoslavia by a court ruling that has cooled relations between the two countries. The four suspects—Rolf Clemens Wagner, Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Peter Boock, and Sieglinde Hofman—are sought in connection with the killing last year of a West German prosecutor and two businessmen. They are believed to be members of the Baader-Meinhof anarchist ring. All four were freed on Fri-

day after a Yugoslav court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to justify their extradition. The Yugoslav Government announced they would be expelled to the country of their choice. The Bonn authorities had feared such a ruling after West German courts earlier this year refused to extradite three Croatian nationalists sought by Yugoslavia for allegedly fomenting revolt there. The Justice Ministry in Bonn called the Yugoslav decision a set-back in the international struggle against terrorism.

Although both Governments have stated publicly

mat me two cases were not related, Yugoslav newspapers have said the Croatian nationalists are as much a treat to the Government of President Tito as the Baader-Meinhof terrorists are to West Germany. The Croatian nationalists want to establish a separate Croatian State in what is now part of north-western Yugoslavia. President Tito’s Communist Government has issued a statement saying it had no

control over the court decision, and expressing hope that the verdict would not damage relations with Bonn. West Germany’s Federal Criminal Office announced it

was circulating information world-wide in its efforts to have the suspects recaptured. There was speculation that they might turn up in a Left-wing Arab country. Three years ago, a group of jailed German terrorists were freed and flown to South Yemen in exchange for a kidnapped Berlin politician, Dr Peter Lorenz. The four were arrested last May in a village in northern Yugoslavia. They are wanted in West

Germany for the murders of the Chief Federal Prosecutor, Dr Siegfried Buback; a banker, Mr Juergen Ponto;! and an industrialist, Mr Hanns-Martin Schleyer.