When Carlos was seized in Sudan in August 1994 he was brought, courtesy of French counter-espionage, to within walking distance of where I was living in Paris. But the problems involved in trying to establish contact with him meant that he might as well have been on another planet. Buried in the isolation section of La Santé jail, Carlos was officially forbidden any contact with other prisoners or with visitors other than his lawyers, and his mail was censored by prison authorities.
French magistrates rejected my request for an interview with Carlos in jail, and seized a letter I wrote to him. ‘By all means see whoever you want to see,’ one anti-terrorism investigator told me, ‘but I don't want anyone doing a parallel investigation.’ When Carlos was informed of this through a third party, he drafted a reply to my (unseen) letter, sending his ‘best revolutionary regards'. It took many months of lobbying, a copy of my first book, and oddly enough a curriculum vitae which Carlos had requested, to establish contact with him. Carlos's obsessive prudence, verging on paranoia, punctuated our exchanges. He seemed a sharp-minded but manipulative character whose egocentric nature led him to take offence quickly at anything he perceived as a slight.
I wish to thank the many people without whom this book could not have been written. I am deeply indebted to those who, at considerable risk to themselves, granted me access to the secret files of France's long-running investigations into the shootings and bombings that Carlos is accused of committing in this and other countries. These files amount to thousands of pages and include the testimony of Carlos himself, as well as that of his accomplices, friends, girlfriends and family. They also include reports by the French secret services which tracked him episodically over the years, and investigations by foreign police forces including Scotland Yard.
I am also very grateful to those who allowed me to consult the Cold War archives of the East German secret police, the Stasi. They are vital to retracing Carlos's career, and form a fascinating, virtually day-by-day snapshot of Carlos and his group in the years when they were based in East Germany, Hungary, and other Soviet satellite states. Common to the defence of many who feature in the Stasi files is the argument that their contents cannot be blindly accepted as fact. But the officers who drafted the reports did so for their own superiors, often indicating whether what they wrote had been established beyond doubt, with no idea that one day their work would fall into the hands of Western intelligence agencies or be used in trials. Standard practice at the Stasi was to use a plethora of informers who did not know of each other's existence but whose assignments overlapped. Corroboration was provided by house searches, by hidden microphones and by telephone taps.
Carlos's capture loosened the tongues of many who had been on the receiving end of his threats, including members of the DST and of the Stasi. Many intelligence sources, several of whom agreed to be quoted on the record for the first time, gave me invaluable guidance. Virtually all the former DST chiefs who dealt with the Carlos file shared with me their time and confidence: Jacques Chartron, Bernard Gerard, Yves Bonnet and Jacques Fournet. Jean-Paul Mauriat and Jean Baklouti, who both headed the DST's counter-terrorism section, shared their insiders’ knowledge, and their criticisms of France's actions.
I also wish to thank several former chiefs of the French DGSE secret service: Pierre Marion, Admiral Pierre Lacoste, and Claude Silberzahn. General Alain de Gaigneron de Marolles, the former head of the clandestine Action Service, was of great assistance in recalling its operations. I am indebted to the association of retired DGSE officers for tracking down several former members of the service. Thanks also to Yves Bertrand, head of the Renseignements Généraux. I am particularly grateful to Duane R. Clarridge for lifting the veil on the CIA's attempt to have Carlos murdered. Serving members of MI6 were unwilling to be identified, but my thanks go in particular to the one who casually asked me at our first meeting: ‘Do you know what I do?’
On the road to Berlin, Patrick Moreau gave me the benefit of his expertise on the Stasi. At the Gauck Commission responsible for the Stasi files, Johannes Legner and Tobias Wunschik both gave me much of their time. I am grateful to General Markus Wolf for agreeing to talk about Carlos in more detail than he had previously done. Those in Berlin who helped me, but declined to have their names published, also deserve my gratitude.
In Paris, many of the lawyers hired by Carlos after his capture (several have since been fired) were willing to talk about their client: Mourad Oussedik and his colleague Martine Tigrane, Antoine Comte, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, François Honorat, Olivier Maudret, and Frédéric Pariente. I am also grateful to Magdalena Kopp's lawyer Manuel Mayer, and to Christa-Margot Froelich's former attorney Jean-Jacques de Felice.
Françoise Rudetzki, president of the victims association SOS Attentats (SOS Attacks), and the association's lawyer Jean-Paul Lévy both dedicated much time to me. Several relatives of Carlos's victims, in particular Jean-Noël Herranz and Gilles Dous, were willing to recall painful events. Kirill Privalov described his university years as a contemporary of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, and Walid Abou Zahr, the editor of Al Watan al Arabi, shared memories of Carlos's bombing of his magazine, and granted me permission to quote from its interview with Carlos.
This book would have been the poorer without the help of many who served in the administrations of Presidents Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and François Mitterrand. I am particularly grateful to Giscard d'Estaing for making an exception to his rule that he never gives interviews to writers. Charles Pasqua, the former Interior Minister, Gilles Ménage, the former head of Mitterrand's private office, and Hubert Védrine, formerly diplomatic adviser to Mitterrand and secretary-general at the Elysée Palace, all gave me precious leads. At the Defence Ministry, I am grateful to Pierre Conesa, Nathalie Fustier and Cécile Jolly. Officials of the Foreign Ministry, who have declined to be identified, were also helpful. In Washington, Mark Palmer, formerly of the State Department, described with delight the occasion on which he upbraided Soviet bloc ambassadors for protecting Carlos.
Of the investigating magistrates who have dealt or still deal with the Carlos case, I must thank Jean-Louis Bruguière, Alain Marsaud and Irene Stoller. At the Brigade Criminelle, Pierre Ottavioli recalled the various times he had followed in Carlos's footsteps. I must also thank Daniel Aberard, who prepared a biography of Carlos for the investigating magistrates, Jacques Poinas, head of the inter-ministerial anti-terrorism body Uclat, and, across the Channel, a member of Scotland Yard's counter- terrorism unit.
I am grateful to Pierre Pédron at the Justice Ministry, Yves Tigoulet, the governor of La Santé jail, and his deputy André Varignan, for a long and detailed tour of the prison which included conversations with Carlos's guards. Thanks also to one of Carlos's former fellow inmates, Captain Bob Denard, and to two other prisoners who cannot be named here.
Many people helped me to track down the rare footage which has been filmed of Carlos. I am grateful to Veronique Lambert de Guise at Kuiv Productions, Camille Michel at Arte, Cyril Lollivier at France 2, Joël François-Dumont at France 3, and Richard Butcher. I also have staff at several institutions and publications to thank, including Nicolas Gleizal at the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Sécurité Intérieure (IHESI), the periodicals section of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the library of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Françoise Lauters at the clippings library of L'Express, the archive department of the Guardian, the Council of Europe, the International Group for Research and Information on Security, Fabio Riccardi at the Communità di Sant'Egidio, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, and Human Rights Watch. I am also grateful to Lee Silverman of the El Al press office and Charlotte Smith of the Marks and Spencer archive.
Pierre Péan allowed me to use extracts from letters sent by Carlos to François Genoud. Péan also gave me the transcript of the interviews with Genoud he carried out before the latter's death. Among my own colleagues I must also thank Robert Fisk, Antoine Glaser, Cristina Gonzàlez de Rodrìguez, Serge Grangé, Tim Livesey, Xavier Raufer, William José Vivas Cano and Mary Yates. Several friends and colleagues helped me with translations, including Lauren Taylor who kindly dedicated many hours to the task, Giampaolo Cadalanu and Elidar Zolia.
Colleagues and friends at Reuters were exceptionally generous. Bernard Edinger, John Morrison and Sydney Weiland recalled their coverage of the OPEC raid in Vienna and its epilogue in Algiers. Thierry Lévèque was a great help in guiding me through the French legal labyrinth, while Christian Curtenelle led me through the police establishment. Irwin Arieff and François Rait-berger both gave me very useful advice during Carlos's trial. David Cutler tracked down material and verified facts, Wilfrid Exbrayat was a constant source of encouragement and suggestions, and Tony Mora recalled the attacks at Orly airport. I must also thank François Duriaud at Reuters in Paris for encouraging me in this project at a very early stage, and Izabel Grindal and David Rogers for letting me off the hook early so that I could devote more time to the book. Similarly, Peter Grieff and Fred Kapner granted me extra time to pursue this project.
Ion Trewin and Ravi Mirchandani, my publishers at Weidenfeld and Nicolson, showed great enthusiasm from very early days, and I am grateful for the professionalism and patience which they demonstrated in turning the manuscript into a book at impressive speed. My thanks also to Rachel Leyshon, Elsbeth Lindner, Roy Furness, Isabel Best, Valerie Duff and Morag Lyall. Arthur Goodhart, my agent, championed the project from day one, and painstakingly worked his way through several drafts of the manuscript with heart-warming zeal.
I am very thankful to family and friends who gave me support and hospitality during the research and writing of this book, and who made valuable suggestions on the manuscript. The fear that Carlos still inspires despite his imprisonment means that many of those who helped me cannot be identified, but my gratitude to them is undiminished. To one person in particular I owe more than words can say.
Paris, May 1997 — Rome, May 1998