 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2012) |
| OPEC Siege | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Karl Lueger-Ring 10 in 2011, now the office of the Dorda law firm. | |
| Location | Vienna; Algiers; Tripoli |
| Date | 21 December 1975 – 23 December 1975 |
| Target | OPEC |
Attack type | Terrorist attack and hostage crisis |
| Weapons | Firearms and hand grenades |
| Deaths | 3 |
| Perpetrators | Arm of the Arab Revolution / Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine |
| Motive | Publicity of Palestinian issues and ransom |
On 21 December 1975, six terrorists attacked the semi-annual meeting of OPEC leaders in Vienna, Austria; the attackers took more than 60 hostages after killing an Austrian policeman, an Iraqi OPEC security officer, and a Libyan economist. Several other individuals were wounded. The self-named "Arm of the Arab Revolution" group was led by Carlos the Jackal. The siege resulted in complex diplomatic negotiations.[1] It ended two days later, after flights to Algiers and Tripoli, with all the hostages and terrorists walking away from the situation.[2] The fact that this was one of the first times that Arab states were targeted by terrorists also led to them being more cooperative in developing antiterrorism efforts at the United Nations.[3]
- ^ Blumenau, Bernhard (2014). The United Nations and Terrorism. Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 55–59. ISBN 978-1-137-39196-4.
- ^ "OPEC raid 1975". Wien-Vienna.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ Blumenau, Bernhard (2014). The United Nations and Terrorism. Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-137-39196-4.