Terrorism West Germany

A gunman opened fire Tuesday on a senior official of the West German Finance Ministry in what police said was an ambush attempt apparently related to a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that opens Thursday in West Berlin. Hans Tietmeyer, a state secretary at the ministry, escaped unhurt in the incident, in which a police spokesman said three or four rounds from a shotgun were fired. Tietmeyer, 57, had been en route to Bonn from his home in suburban Bad Godesberg.

The West German government's top terrorism expert survived an assassination attempt in the heart of the capital Friday when suspected Red Army Faction guerrillas detonated a remote-controlled bomb as he drove by. "They tried to kill me," said Hans Neusel, who escaped with minor cuts to his hand, hours after the morning rush-hour attack as he was driving to work. "It's a risk in my job, but even if they had killed me, someone else would take my place," he told reporters.

West Germany on Saturday denied a British newspaper report that the bomb that blew up the Pan Am jumbo jet over Scotland on Dec. 21 was smuggled aboard in Frankfurt, possibly by a Lebanese passenger duped into carrying it. Instead, authorities in Bonn said that initial results of the international probe indicate that the bomb was placed aboard Flight 103 in London, but provided no details.

A roadside bomb blast triggered by a beam of light injured West Germany's top terrorism expert today, and the Red Army Faction terrorist group claimed responsibility. Hans Neusel, the state secretary of the Interior Ministry, escaped with only minor injuries, although his car was wrecked. Neusel, whose ministry is in charge of law enforcement, was taken to a hospital but released a short time later and returned to the scene of the bombing, a highway on the outskirts of Bonn.

Alfred Herrhausen, the head of West Germany's largest bank and one of the most powerful men in Europe, was killed in a bomb attack Thursday while he was en route to his office in Frankfurt. The office of the chief federal prosecutor said that the Red Army Faction, a terrorist organization, had claimed responsibility for the attack in a letter left at the scene.

The West German government's top terrorism expert survived an assassination attempt in the heart of the capital Friday when suspected Red Army Faction guerrillas detonated a remote-controlled bomb as he drove by. "They tried to kill me," said Hans Neusel, who escaped with minor cuts to his hand, hours after the morning rush-hour attack as he was driving to work. "It's a risk in my job, but even if they had killed me, someone else would take my place," he told reporters.

West German prosecutors Thursday launched a criminal investigation against ousted East German leader Erich Honecker for allegedly harboring several fugitive terrorists wanted in a string of deadly attacks in the West. The probe focuses on Honecker, former Minister of State Security Erich Mielke and "numerous others" in East Germany's dismantled secret police network, according to chief prosecutor Gerhard Klass.

A bomb exploded in front of the Frankfurt Jewish Community Center shortly after midnight Sunday, and minutes later another blast ripped through the downtown office of Saudi Arabia's Saudia Airlines, police said. There were no casualties in either explosion, but the airline office was heavily damaged and a Volkswagen bus parked in front of the Jewish Community Center was destroyed, police said. Police spokesman Hans Neitzel said there were no immediate claims of responsibility.

A U.S. military train was damaged by explosions on a journey between Frankfurt, West Germany, and West Berlin, but no injuries were reported. "We're treating this as an attack," a West German police spokesman said, but he conceded there was no information on who was responsible. Thirty-one people were on board when the blast occurred, about 120 miles northeast of Frankfurt, damaging the locomotive and a section of track. A railroad spokesman said the U.S.

West German prosecutors Thursday launched a criminal investigation against ousted East German leader Erich Honecker for allegedly harboring several fugitive terrorists wanted in a string of deadly attacks in the West. The probe focuses on Honecker, former Minister of State Security Erich Mielke and "numerous others" in East Germany's dismantled secret police network, according to chief prosecutor Gerhard Klass.

East Germany admitted Friday that the ousted Communist regime sheltered some of West Germany's most-wanted terrorists for more than a decade in a carefully planned conspiracy shattered by a string of arrests this month. In the closest cooperation yet between East and West German police, six suspected members of the Red Army Faction have been apprehended in East Germany over the past 10 days in connection with a series of murders, bombings and kidnapings, officials in both countries said.

East German police have arrested one of West Germany's most wanted terrorist suspects, the second such arrest of an alleged member of the leftist Red Army Faction member in a week, officials said in East Berlin. Inge Viett, 46, was arrested in the East German city of Magdeburg. The government-run news agency ADN said that West German police were involved in tracking her down.

One of West Germany's most-wanted terrorist suspects, linked to the slayings of a prominent banker and a wealthy industrialist, has been captured, officials said Thursday. Susanne Albrecht, 39, a member of the notorious Red Army Faction terrorist group, was captured Wednesday afternoon in front of her apartment in East Berlin, East Germany's interior minister said.

Alfred Herrhausen, the head of West Germany's largest bank and one of the most powerful men in Europe, was killed in a bomb attack Thursday while he was en route to his office in Frankfurt. The office of the chief federal prosecutor said that the Red Army Faction, a terrorist organization, had claimed responsibility for the attack in a letter left at the scene.

A suspected Irish Republican Army bomb squad apparently preparing to attack British targets in West Germany has been arrested in France, police said. Two men and one woman, who were not identified, were seized at a toll booth on the highway east of Paris on Friday, while British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, President Bush and other world leaders were visiting the French capital for the economic summit.

West German police revealed Thursday that they have arrested a Lebanese whom they suspect of planning to bomb American, Israeli and Jewish targets in the Federal Republic. The man, whom police did not identify, was said to be a 21-year-old physics student living in Darmstadt. He was described as a "fanatic" Shiite Muslim who may belong to the extremist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.