# Norman Paterson School of International Affairs

## Abstract

The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA (/ n ɪ p ˈ s iː ə / nip- SEE -ə)) is a professional school of international affairs at Carleton University that was founded in 1965. The school is based at Richcraft Hall on Carleton's campus in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Students, alumni and faculty of NPSIA are referred to as 'NPSIAns' (/ ˈ n ɪ p s i ə n / NIP -see-ən).

NPSIA is Canada's oldest school of international affairs, founded during what is commonly considered a golden age of Canadian diplomacy. The school offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of global issues, divided into eight fields.

In 2007, a poll of Canadian academics, intended to determine the best professional master's degree programs in international affairs, ranked NPSIA at number 2, tied with Georgetown University and ahead of programs at universities like Harvard and Columbia. A 2019 survey of Canadian academics in international affairs confirmed NPSIA as the most-recommended school in Canada for students seeking a career in policy.

NPSIA is a founding member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), a group of public policy, public administration and international affairs schools.

## History

### Creation of the school

Carleton University president Davidson Dunton announced the creation of a graduate school of international affairs on 18 February 1965. The school was established, in part, due to a $400,000 grant from the Hon. Norman Paterson. He was a Canadian businessman and Senator who made his fortune in the shipping and grain industries, and he was also a member of Carleton's Board of Governors. He had previously donated $500,000 to Carleton in 1957. At the time of its creation, the new graduate school was called the School of International Affairs. It was renamed in 1974, while Philip Uren was serving as director, in order to honour its principal financial benefactor, Norman Paterson.

Classes began at the School of International Affairs in September 1966. The first director of the school was Norman Robertson, a distinguished public servant and diplomat. Prior to his appointment at the school, Robertson had served variously as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to Cabinet, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, as well as ambassador to the United States in 1957-58 (when Philip Uren also served there as first secretary appointed by Lester Pearson) and twice as the Under-secretary of External Affairs. Robertson did not enjoy teaching and was reportedly not an effective teacher. Enrolment at the school in the early years numbered over 30.

### Lester Pearson

The school acquired its most prominent faculty member in 1968 with the appointment of former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson as a lecturer. The newly opened school was a natural fit for Pearson, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for trying (without significant impact) to end the Suez conflict. Senator Paterson later contended that the creation of the school and thoughts about how Pearson would spend his retirement were "intimately bound together in mind." Pearson had turned down multiple teaching offers from schools in the United States before beginning his appointment at the School on 1 July 1968, only months after stepping down as Prime Minister.

At the school, Pearson taught a three-hour seminar on foreign relations, with a particular focus on collective security. Though Pearson's teaching style was largely informal, he took his commitment as a professor seriously, making up missed seminars even as his health began to fail. Pearson once even declined an invitation from U.S. President Richard Nixon to dine at the White House on account of his teaching duties. Pearson also enjoyed engaging with students, though he was apparently not an easy marker and seldom saw fit to make comments on students' work.

Pearson also used his time at Carleton to work on his memoirs, until he died in 1972. Pearson is buried in the same cemetery as his friend, and the school's first director, Norman Robertson. Following his death, friends of Pearson raised funds to establish the Lester B. Pearson Chair of International Affairs at the school. The first person to hold the chair position was Arnold Cantwell Smith, a Canadian diplomat who served as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.

### 1970s and 1980s

NPSIA made the news in 1978, when John Sigler, who died Professor Emeritus in 2021 at the age of 89, was Director, because of a brief controversy after Philip Uren, who served three times as Director of NPSIA and was a Carleton professor of geography, accepted a paid trip from the government of South Africa to speak and conduct research. This was controversial given the government of South Africa's Apartheid policy. The NPSIA Faculty Council was concerned that Uren had represented himself as speaking on behalf of Carleton University, and passed a resolution censuring Uren for damaging NPSIA's reputation. The incident was complicated by the fact that Uren also served as the director of the Paterson Centre, Carleton's administrative centre for international exchanges. His dual role as professor and administrator sparked a debate over academic freedom, and how that freedom should extent to faculty serving in administrative roles. Uren eventually resigned as director of the Paterson Centre, though he remained a geography professor at Carleton. He died in 1979 at the age of 56 – a fellowship was established in his name.

NPSIA first published its "Canada Among Nations" series in 1984. The annual series brings together leading members of the international affairs community for an assessment of the country's foreign policy. The books are used in university courses on foreign policy and international relations, and "have become a major publication of record on Canada’s policies and actions in the world." The volumes, which include topics such as arms control, climate change, and international political economy, have often been edited by prominent NPSIA faculty members, including by Maureen Appel Molot, Brian Tomlin, Fen Osler Hampson, Norman Hillmer, Jean Daudelin and Dane Rowlands.

### 21st century

In 2008, former Canadian diplomat William Barton donated $3 million to the school to establish the William and Jeanie Barton Chair in International Affairs. The chair honours Barton, who served as President of the UN Security Council during Canada's lead in the 1970s, and his wife Jeanie. The first and current chair holder is Trevor Findlay.

NPSIA moved from its traditional home on Carleton's campus in Dunton Tower to the new River Building in 2012. The school's new space includes a new resource centre named in honour of William and Jeanie Barton. The resource centre contains computers, printers, workrooms, unique reference material including past theses by NPSIAns, and a balcony on the top floor of the River Building. The resource centre is accessible only to NPSIA students, staff and faculty.

Dr Yiagadeesen (Teddy) Samy is the current director of NPSIA, having succeeded Dr Dane Rowlands in 2017. Prior to Dr Rowlands' tenure the position was held by Dr Fen Hampson; Dr Hampson's term as director ended in 2012.

In spring 2024, the school was labeled as an “ undesirable organization ” in Russia.

## Graduate programs

International affairs is not a major available to undergraduate students, although the school does offer a handful of courses open to upper-year students at the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs. The school offers three different Masters level programs, and one PhD level program.

### Master of Arts

The Master of Arts in International Affairs is NPSIA's most popular degree program, with about 100 students graduating with the degree each year. The program offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of international affairs, and many of the classes are focused on policy. NPSIA's MA program is organized around eight fields:

- Conflict Analysis and Conflict Resolution ("CON")

- Health, Displacement and Humanitarian Policy ("HDHP")

- International Development Policy ("IDP")

- Intelligence and International Affairs ("IIA")

- International Organizations and Global Public Policy ("IOGP")

- International Economic Policy ("IEP")

- Security, Defence Policy ("SDP)

- Diplomacy and Foreign Policy ("DFP")

To graduate, NPSIA M.A. students must complete 5.0 full credits, including one economics course, at least one cluster course and the introductory methods course. Students must also demonstrate an intermediate knowledge of a major second language. For instance, in French, students must meet the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

### PhD

The PhD program at NPSIA requires that students complete at least 10 full credits, which includes the 4.5 credits worth of dissertation work. The PhD program has three fields of study:

- International Conflict Management and Resolution

- International Development Policy

- International Economic Policy

### Joint and dual degrees

NPSIA offers an M.A./JD degree in conjunction with the University of Ottawa 's Faculty of Law. Students must apply to both the JD and the M.A. programs separately and gain admission to each program to be admitted into the joint program. M.A./JD students do one year at UOttawa before completing their second year at NPSIA.

The school has also partnered with Carleton's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to offer the Master of Infrastructure Protection and International Security (MIPIS). This degree combines infrastructure engineering with international affairs to address issues at the nexus of national security and engineering.

## Research units and publications

As a hub of international affairs-related research, NPSIA houses a number of different research centres. Each is a unique body tasked with producing research on a specific topic or collection of related topics. Many NPSIA professors are actively involved in these research centres. NPSIA is affiliated with the following research centres:

- The Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies (CCISS)

- The Canadian Centre for Treaty Compliance (CCTC)

- Centre for Security and Defence Studies (CSDS)

- Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL)

In addition to these research units, the school is home to two academic journals. The first, the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, is a peer-reviewed journal traditionally published three times per year. Founded in 1992, the journal offers analysis of foreign policy issues from a Canadian perspective, and many NPSIA faculty members have been published in the journal. The second journal that NPSIA houses is the Paterson Review of International Affairs, a student-managed journal that publishes the best articles submitted by graduate students in international relations, political science and related fields. Formally called E-merge, the journal publishes once a year and is edited by a staff of NPSIA students. NPSIA is also well known for publishing Canada Among Nations, a biannual survey of Canadian foreign policy and Canada's involvement in the international community. The text has come to be incorporated in many university courses and is widely read by policy makers.

## Student life

### Benefit soirée

The NPSIA Benefit Soirée, usually referred to as "Soirée", is an annual benefit dinner put on by first year MA students since 1997. The goal of Soirée is to raise awareness of a key global issue while connecting students with important members of the international affairs community in Ottawa. Generally composed of a dinner followed by a keynote address, the event raises money for a different charity each year, and is the major event of the NPSIA social season. Past keynote speakers include Michael Ignatieff, former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, the founder of War Child Canada Samantha Nutt and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Izzeldin Abuelaish. The event is well attended by NPSIA students and professors, and by members of Ottawa's diplomatic community and the wider international affairs community.

## Notable alumni

There are over 2,000 NPSIA alumni in a wide variety of positions within the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. NPSIA alumni are represented by the NPSIA Alumni Association, which has an active chapter in Ottawa and contacts in a variety of major world cities.

### Canadian government and politics

- Senator Peter Boehm, Former Deputy Minister of International Development

- Jim Judd, Former Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) (2004–2009)

- David McLaughlin, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

- Niki Ashton, Member of Parliament for Churchill, Manitoba

- Alexandra Bugailiskis, Former Ambassador to the Republics of Italy, San Marino and Albania, High Commissioner to Malta and Permanent Representative to the WFP, FAO and IFAD, Syria, Cuba, and Poland and High Commissioner to Cyprus

- J. Gregory Goldhawk, Former Ambassador to Mongolia

- Kevin Hamilton, Ambassador to Türkiye with joint accreditation to Georgia and Azerbaijan, Former Ambassador to Romania.

- Ron Hoffmann, Former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand

- Elissa Goldberg, Ambassador to the Republics of Italy, San Marino, Albania and High Commissioner to Malta.

- Yasir Naqvi, Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.

### Foreign governments

- Frances Guy, Former British Ambassador to Lebanon and Yemen

- Christopher Fitzherbert Hackett, Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Barbados

- Ito Takako, Ambassador of Japan to Ethiopia


Amber Beacon Tower murder

# Amber Beacon Tower murder

## Abstract

The Amber Beacon Tower murder is an unsolved case where a woman was murdered by two unknown attackers, who ambushed her and her boyfriend during the couple's romantic night out at Amber Beacon Tower in East Coast Park. During the attack, the female victim, 21-year-old Kelly Tan Ah Hong (陈亚凤 Chén Yàfèng), was stabbed in the neck by one of the men while her 22-year-old boyfriend, James Soh Fook Leong (苏福良 Sū Fúliáng), was stabbed in the back by the man's accomplice. Although Soh managed to survive with timely medical intervention, Tan died as a result of massive bleeding from her wound. Despite the extensive police investigations of this case, the murderer(s) were never identified or caught.

## Background

Born sometime in late 1968, Kelly Tan Ah Hong was the second of seven children in an affluent family. Although Tan herself was a Singaporean by birth, her father Tan Lam Lee was a Chinese Indonesian immigrant who operated a vegetable wholesale business, while her mother Ong Lye was a housewife. Tan had one elder sister, three younger sisters and two younger brothers in her family, who resided at a bungalow house in Thomson Road.

After completing her primary school education, Tan was enrolled into Yio Chu Kang Secondary School at Ang Mo Kio, where she became classmates with her future boyfriend James Soh Fook Leong, who was the only child and son of his family; his father was the owner of an electronics business. Soh was said to be a studious student and enthusiast in sports and games, and both he and Tan, who were of the same age, became prefects. Although Tan was the opposite of Soh in terms of their interests and personality, Soh nonetheless was attracted to Tan, who likewise had mutual feelings for him and they became friends since they first met.

After both Soh and Tan graduated, Soh enrolled into an electronic engineering course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic while Tan herself did not continue studying and instead, she joined her father's business and worked under him. In 1990, before Soh began his third year in polytechnic, he decided to ask Tan out, and on 13 May 1990, about a decade after they first met, Soh and Tan officially became a couple. According to Soh's parents, they never met Tan until a few days before her death, when Soh invited her to their flat. Soh's parents remembered their son telling them that Tan was his former schoolmate, but they never knew the specific nature of the couple's relationship.

## Murder of Kelly Tan

On the night of 15 May 1990, merely two days after they first became a couple, James Soh and Kelly Tan went to have a date at East Coast Park, heading to the Amber Beacon Tower in the park itself, where it was a popular spot for young couples to hang out.

When Soh and Tan were sitting on the tower's spiral staircase and chatting with each other, there were two men who walked past them and went to the upper level of the tower. Subsequently, after about fifteen minutes, the two men ambushed the couple with knives. While Tan ran away to escape one of the attackers, the other man stayed at the tower to attack Soh, who instinctively defended himself against the assailant. The violent attack led to Soh being stabbed on the back. The wound itself was so deep that it narrowly missed Soh's spinal cord, and would have been fatal if it had struck the spinal cord.

However, from a short distance away, Tan was in a more dire situation compared to Soh. She sustained a deep neck wound on the left side of her neck, after her attacker viciously used his knife to stab her below her left ear after managing to catch up with her. The knife wound caused Tan to suffer from massive bleeding. After the two men escaped the scene, Soh, who barely retained his consciousness, staggered to help his girlfriend and tried to bring her to the nearby Singa Inn Seafood Restaurant, where one of their attackers was last seen running towards it, while the other was last seen running to the bird sanctuary of the park.

Soh, who was drenched in blood, managed to reach the restaurant, and asked the employees to help his girlfriend and himself, before he fainted. The police and ambulance, as well as Soh's parents (who rushed to the scene), were contacted, and 22-year-old James Soh Fook Leong was rushed to Singapore General Hospital, where he survived with timely medical intervention. However, 21-year-old Kelly Tan Ah Hong, who was mortally wounded by her killer, was pronounced dead at the scene. Reportedly, Soh, who regained his consciousness in hospital and was in stable condition, was unaware of his girlfriend's death and kept asking his mother if she was alright. Soh was said to be devastated upon receiving news of Tan's death two days after she was killed. Soh's parents had kept the news from their son for fear it may affect his recovery progress, in accordance to the doctor's opinion. According to Soh's 47-year-old mother, whose surname was Tan, she and her husband were baffled over the horrific and senseless attack, and she knew that her son did not have any enemies since he was often a well-behaved person.

Tan's father, who was in Indonesia at the time of the killing, flown back to Singapore to attend his daughter's funeral.

## Investigations

The case of Kelly Tan Ah Hong's death was classified as murder. Under the laws of Singapore, the death penalty was the mandated sentence for any offenders found guilty of murder. In light of the violent killing of Tan, which shocked the nation at that time, members of the public, especially young people and couples, were advised by the authorities to be vigilant when going out at night.

As part of their investigations, the police also interviewed the survivor James Soh in the hospital. Despite surviving the attack, Soh was unable to recall the faces of their attackers, and could not hear their voices, since the two men never spoke a word during the attack. However, the police were able to gain a description that the men were dark-looking and out of these two men, the person who attacked Soh had short hair and was about 173 cm tall. The second male assailant who went after Tan was about 167 cm and had curly black hair. While the assailants were speculated to be drug addicts, they were also speculated to be foreigners since Soh remembered hearing the two killers speaking a foreign language while they were escaping from the tower. Although both Tan and Soh did not lost anything, robbery was theorized as a possible motive of the crime, and this theory was corroborated by the previous reports of people being robbed at the area itself and several other areas in East Coast Park during nights or late evenings. The police also did not rule out the possibility of a revenge killing, but both Soh and Tan were known to be good-mannered people who never had any grudges or feuds with other people. Still, due to lack of clues in this case, the police were unable to make a breakthrough in their investigations. The murder weapons were also never recovered.

In April 1992, two years after the incident, a coroner's court held an inquiry hearing of Kelly Tan's death and issued a verdict of murder by a person or persons unknown. Professor Chao Tzee Cheng, the senior forensic pathologist, certified that due to the assailant having stabbed Tan in the neck, the knife had cut through a blood artery on the neck, which resulted in Tan losing an excessively huge amount of blood and she died as a result. James Soh, who by then had begun to serve his National Service after completing his diploma, came to court to testify during the coroner's inquiry. After the coroner's verdict was meted out, Tan's bereaved family put up a reward of S$30,000 for any information leading up to the arrest of Tan's murderer(s). According to Tan's 28-year-old cousin Anthony Tan, who was also the manager of her father's company, the reward would be entrusted to the police and be indefinitely in effect up until the arrest of Tan's killer(s).

In June 1992, Singaporean crime show Crimewatch re-enacted the Amber Beacon Tower murder and inside the episode, both the police and Tan's family, including Tan's 42-year-old mother Ong Lye and 26-year-old older sister Tan Kwee Mui appealed for information from members of the public to assist in their investigations of the case. Tan's mother and sisters were reportedly still haunted by nightmares and sadness about the case, due to the uncertainty of when the case itself would be solved. Flyers were also published on newspapers to seek the public's help to solve the murder.

Despite the police's efforts to investigate Tan's murder, the Amber Beacon Tower murder case remains unsolved as of today, and the police were unable to uncover the identities of the killer(s). However, the police investigations remained open in this case because all criminal cases in Singapore, including murder, did not carry the statute of limitations and the police would regularly review these outstanding cases from time to time to yield any new clues to solve these cases.

## Aftermath

The murder of Kelly Tan Ah Hong remains as one of Singapore's infamous cases of unsolved murders, which also included the 1979 Geylang Bahru family murders, the 1985 Winnifred Teo murder case, the 1984 curry murder and several others.

After surviving the attack, Tan's former boyfriend James Soh Fook Leong would eventually work in sales after completing his education. He was later married with another woman and together, they had a son, who was reportedly 16 years old when his father was interviewed in 2015.

In July 2015, 25 years after his former girlfriend's murder, James Soh, then 47 years old, was approached for an interview, and he agreed to talk about his ordeal. Soh, who remained haunted with trauma over the attack, stated that even after many years, he was unable to understand why he and Tan were attacked, and he still could not recall the faces of their assailants. He also developed a fear of footstep sounds coming from behind him and avoided secluded places at all times. Soh stated that he regretted not knowing Tan better before she died, and he still tried to move on from the incident, something which he finally told his son in 2014. Soh added that due to the attack, he often remind his son to not go to secluded places and be vigilant at all times. Soh also held on to the hope that the killer(s) of Tan would be brought to justice, and asked that anyone with information about the killing can step forward to help crack the case.

The Amber Beacon Tower, where Kelly Tan was murdered, was rumoured to be haunted ever since her death, and there were reported sightings of a ghostly figure, described as the restless soul of Tan, roaming around the area at night, due to her unjust death and her murderer(s) not being arrested or punished. Wailing sounds and some fresh bloodstains at the tower were also included among the witness accounts regarding the tower's haunted presence. Lee Teng, a Taiwanese television host based in Singapore, revealed that when he and his friends camped nearby the tower at East Coast Park back in secondary school, his Buddha penchant mysteriously disappeared the next morning after the night camping trip, and Lee also claimed that inside one of the photographs taken by his friend at the tower that night itself, a shadowy figure was seen "hovering near another friend's head."


Idemili North

# Idemili North

## Abstract

Idemili North is a Local Government Area in Anambra State, South-Central Nigeria. Towns that make up the local government are: Abacha, Abatete, Eziowelle, Ideani, Nkpor, Obosi, Ogidi, Oraukwu, Uke, Umuoji. Its headquarters is located in Ogidi.It is part of the Greater Onitsha Metropolis.

## Economy

Idemili North LGA is a center for trade, and it is home to a number of markets, including the Uke market and the Building materials market. With crops including yam, cassava, cocoyam, and vegetables growing in the region, farming is another significant economic aspect of Idemili North LGA. The residents of Idemili North LGA also work in the fields of fishing, blacksmithing, and handicrafts.

## Geography

Idemili North local government has a total area of about 390 square kilometers and the River Idemili flows within its territory.The local government experiences two distinct seasons, the rainy and the dry, with an estimated average temperature of 25°C for the region. According to calculations, the average humidity in the Idemili North local government is around 69 percent, and the average wind speed is around 11 km/h.

## Schools

Here is the list of secondary schools in Idemili North Local Government Area:

- Notre Dame High School, Abatete

- Abanna Secondary School, Abatete

- Community Secondary School, Eziowelle

- Queen of the Rosary Secondary School, Eziowelle

- Community Secondary School, Ideani

- Government Technical College, Nkpor

- Urban Secondary School, Nkpor

- Community Secondary School, Obosi

- Unity Secondary School, Obosi

- Boys' Secondary School, Ogidi

- Anglican Girls' Secondary School, Ogidi

- Community Secondary School, Oraukwu

- Oraukwu Grammar School, Oraukwu

- Community Secondary School, Uke

- Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umuoji

- Community Secondary School, Umuoji

- Awada Secondary School, Awada

- Don Bosco Secondary School,(DBSS), Obosi

- Ebelechukwu high school, Nkpor

Here is the list of tertiary institutions in Idemili North Local Government Area:

- John Bosco Institute of Technology, (Jobitech), Obosi

## Notable People

- Chike Aniakor - Artist and scholar


Lufthansa Flight 181

# Lufthansa Flight 181

## Abstract

Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737-230C jet airliner (reg. D-ABCE) named Landshut, was hijacked on 13 October 1977 by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine while en route from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. The hijacking aimed to secure the release of eleven notorious Red Army Faction leaders held in West German prisons and two Palestinians held in Turkey. This event was part of the so-called German Autumn, intended to increase pressure on the West German government. The hijackers diverted the flight to several locations in a harrowing odyssey before ending in Mogadishu, Somalia, where the crisis concluded in the early morning hours of 18 October 1977 under the cover of darkness. The West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9, with ground support from the Somali Armed Forces, stormed the aircraft, rescuing all 87 passengers and four crew members. Tragically, the captain of the flight was killed by the hijackers earlier in the ordeal.

## Background

The hijacking was a dramatic escalation in the so-called German Autumn of 1977, a period marked by a series of terrorist activities in West Germany. It was directly linked to the dramatic kidnapping in Braunsfeld, Cologne, of Hanns Martin Schleyer, a prominent West German industrialist, by the Red Army Faction (RAF) " Commando Siegfried Hausner " group on 5 September 1977. Militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), working in concert with the RAF, hijacked the Lufthansa Landshut plane to secure the release of their imprisoned leaders and comrades, predominantly held in the West German supermax Stammheim Prison, as well as two Palestinians held in Turkey. The hijacking was intended to increase pressure on the West German government to meet these demands. It culminated in the West German GSG 9 rescue operation, codenamed "Feuerzauber" (German for "Magic Fire"), which resulted in the liberation of all 87 passengers and four of the five crew members. Three hijackers were killed during the rescue, and one was captured alive.

## Lufthansa crew

Two flight crew and three cabin crew operated the round-trip flight from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca:

## Hijackers

At the time, the hijackers' names remained unknown to the passengers and crew of Lufthansa Flight 181, other than Captain Mahmoud's alias, so the passengers and crew referred to them by nicknames. To this day, the survivors still refer to them as "the little one," "the fat one," "the boy," and "Captain Mahmoud".

During the five-day ordeal, the hijackers terrorized the passengers and crew with verbal abuse, physical assaults, and restraint, subjecting them to psychological torture and threats of further physical harm or death. They also sifted through the passengers' passports, luggage, and personal possessions, searching for clues indicating Jewish identity. At one point, Mahmoud found a Montblanc pen in a passenger's luggage. Mistaking the snowcap logo on the cap of the pen for the Star of David, he accused the passenger of being Jewish. Despite the passenger's desperate denial, Mahmoud declared, "You report for shooting tomorrow morning at 8:30, understood?" Almost as feared as the leader Mahmoud was Andrawes Sayeh, whom some passengers later described as equally zealous.

## Key West German rescue personnel

## Hijacking

At 13:55 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on Thursday, 13 October 1977, Lufthansa flight LH 181, a Boeing 737 named Landshut, took off from Palma de Mallorca Airport en route to Frankfurt Airport with 87 passengers (91 including the 4 hijackers) and five crew members. The hijackers were able to board the aircraft carrying two concealed pistols, four hand grenades, and 500 grams (18 oz) of plastic explosive due to lax airport security in Palma, Spain. The flight was piloted by Captain Jürgen Schumann, with co-pilot Jürgen Vietor at the controls.

About 30 minutes later, while overflying Marseille, the aircraft was hijacked by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who called themselves "Commando Martyr Halima" in honour of fellow German militant Brigitte Kuhlmann. Kuhlmann, who used the nom de guerre "Halima", had been killed in Operation Entebbe in Uganda the previous year. The leader of the hijacker group, adopting the alias "Captain Mahmoud", angrily burst into the cockpit, brandishing a fully loaded pistol. He forcibly removed Vietor from the cockpit, sending him to the economy class area to join the passengers and flight attendants, leaving Schumann at the flight controls. As the other three hijackers knocked over food trays and ordered the hostages to put their hands on their heads, Mahmoud coerced Captain Schumann to fly east to Larnaca in Cyprus but was told that the plane had insufficient fuel and would have to land in Rome first.

### Rome

The hijacked aircraft changed course at around 14:38 CEST, as reported by air traffic controllers in southern France near Aix-en-Provence, diverting eastward and landing at Fiumicino Airport in Rome at 15:45 CEST for refuelling. At around 17:00 CEST, the hijackers made their first demands via the control tower, acting in concert with a Red Army Faction group, the Commando Siegfried Hausner group, which had kidnapped West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer five weeks earlier. They demanded the release of all "comrades" imprisoned in the Federal Republic (West Germany), specifically the eleven Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorists detained predominantly at the supermax Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart.

The West German government expected active support for its tough anti-terrorism policy from its NATO and EC partners. West German Interior Minister Werner Maihofer contacted his Italian counterpart Francesco Cossiga and urged that the take-off of the hijacked plane be prevented by all means possible—whether by blocking the runway, which was initiated hesitantly or by shooting out the tyres during take-off. Cossiga never considered this, because the airport administration had unilaterally complied with the kidnappers' request to refuel the plane. Firing on the plane as it took off could easily have led to an explosion and thus a bloodbath among the passengers. After consulting with his colleagues, Cossiga decided that the most desirable solution for the Italian government was to rid itself of the problem altogether and not become a target of international terrorism through forceful action. At 17:42 CEST, the Landshut took off unhindered towards Cyprus, even without obtaining clearance from Rome air traffic control.

### Hijackers demands and ultimatum

While maintaining a rigorous news blackout, the West German government, stalling for time—a strategy they had already adopted early in the crisis of the kidnapping of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer on 5 September—asked the hijackers to "clarify" some points in their communiqué. The West German government had previously proposed Geneva lawyer Denis Payot, president of the Swiss League for Human and Citizen Rights (Ligue suisse des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), as a middleman for negotiations with Schleyer's kidnappers. Payot, a 35-year-old lawyer, was first mentioned by Schleyer's kidnappers when they demanded that Payot and Martin Niemoeller, an 85-year-old German theologian, Lutheran pastor, and former opponent of the Nazi regime, accompany the eleven Red Army Faction members on a flight to a country that would be named after they were freed from prison.

A letter in English, dated 13 October by the hijackers but received on Friday night, 14 October, addressed to Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, was delivered to Payot, as well as the French newspaper France-Soir, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, and the Frankfurter Rundschau. The hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 had intensified the pressure on the West German government to have the Red Army Faction prisoners flown out, reaching an extreme level. Observers in the Federal Chancellery in Bonn were now firmly expecting a prisoner-hostage exchange.

The letter, which Payot said contained "demands and precise deadlines," was immediately forwarded to the Federal Chancellery in Bonn. Payot kept an earlier promise to the West German government that he would not divulge details of the messages that went through his office. Schleyer's kidnappers had contacted the lawyer fourteen times by telephone between September 6 and 17. Telephone calls made from West Germany to Payot's number were intercepted by the West German Federal Criminal Police Agency from the Frankfurt telecommunications office, and a "call trace" was also set up that allowed these calls to be traced back to telephone booths in Cologne. The French authorities discovered that Payot had also been called several times from Gare du Nord in Paris. The letter received by Payot from the hijackers, addressed to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, stated:

Ultimatum to the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

We hereby inform you that the passengers and crew of Lufthansa aircraft 737, flight number LH 181, from Palma to Frankfurt (M) are under our complete control and responsibility. The lives of the passengers and crew and the life of Dr. Hanns Martin Schleyer depends on your fulfilling the following demands:

- Release of the following RAF comrades from West German prisons: Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Jan Carl Raspe, Verena Becker, Werner Hoppe, Karl-Heinz Dellwo, Hanna Krabbe, Bernd Rössner, Ingrid Schubert, Irmgard Möller, Günter Sonnenberg. Each person is to receive DM 100,000.

- Release of the following Palestinian F.L.P. comrades from prison in Istanbul: - Mahdi - Hussein.

- The payment of 15 million US dollars according to the attached instructions.

- Make arrangements with one of the following countries to receive the comrades who have been released: Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Republic of Somalia, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

- The German prisoners should be taken to their destination in an aircraft provided by you, you should fly via Istanbul and take on the two Palestinian comrades released from the prison there. The Turkish Government is well informed of our demands. All prisoners should reach their destination by Sunday, 16 October 1977, 08:00 GMT. The money should be handed over within the same period in accordance with the enclosed instructions.

- If all prisoners are not released and reach their destination and the money is not handed over as instructed within the specified time, Hanns Martin Schleyer and all passengers and the crew of Lufthansa aircraft 737, flight LH 181, will be killed immediately.

- If you comply with our instructions, everyone will be released.

- We will not attempt to contact you again. This will be our last contact with you. You will be held responsible for any error or failure in releasing the above prisoners or in handing over the specified ransom as instructed.

- Any attempt at delay or deception on your part will result in the immediate expiration of the ultimatum and the execution of Hanns Martin Schleyer, the passengers and the crew of the aircraft.

13 October 1977, Organization for the Fight against World Imperialism.

The letter to the Federal Republic of West Germany comprised two statements from the hijackers, who identified themselves as members of an "Organization for the Fight against World Imperialism." The first statement reiterated the demands made by Schleyer's kidnappers, while the second statement, titled "Operation Kafr Qaddum " was addressed to "all revolutionaries in the world," "all free Arabs," and "our Palestinian masses," attempting to provide a political justification for their actions. Additionally, a third statement was provided by the Commando Siegfried Hausner Red Army Faction, who were holding Hanns Martin Schleyer hostage.

Because this demand from the hijackers included prisoners held in Turkey, the West German Federal Government was in constant contact with the Turkish government from 14 October until the hostages' liberation on 18 October.

### Larnaca

The Landshut landed in Larnaca, Cyprus, at 20:28 CEST. After about an hour, a local Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative arrived at the airport and, over the radio, tried to persuade Mahmoud to release the hostages. This only provoked a furious response from Mahmoud, who angrily screamed at him in Arabic until the PLO representative gave up and left. The aircraft was then refuelled, and Schumann asked flight control for routing to Beirut. He was told that Beirut Airport was blockaded and closed to them, and Mahmoud suggested that they fly to Damascus instead. The Landshut took off at 22:50 CEST, heading for Beirut, but was refused permission to land there at 23:01 CEST. After also being denied landing permission in Damascus at 23:14 CEST, Baghdad at 00:23 CEST (14 October), and Kuwait at 00:58 CEST, they flew to Bahrain.

### Bahrain

Schumann was informed by a passing Qantas airliner that Bahrain International Airport was also closed to them. Schumann radioed flight control and stated that they had insufficient fuel to fly elsewhere. Despite being told again that the airport was closed, he was suddenly given an automatic landing frequency by the flight controller. The plane finally touched down in Bahrain at 01:52 CEST on 14 October. Upon arrival, the aircraft was immediately surrounded by armed troops. Mahmoud radioed the control tower, threatening to shoot the co-pilot unless the soldiers were withdrawn. After a stand-off with the control tower, during which Mahmoud set a five‑minute deadline and held a loaded pistol to Vietor's head, the troops were withdrawn. The aircraft was then refuelled and took off for Dubai at 03:24 CEST.

### Dubai

Approaching Dubai, the 737 was again denied landing permission. Overflying Dubai International Airport in the early light of dawn, the hijackers and pilots saw the runway blocked with military jeeps, trucks, and fire engines. Running short of fuel, Schumann radioed the control tower to announce that they were going to land anyway. As they made a low pass over the airport, the vehicles were finally being removed. At 05:40 CEST, the pilots made a smooth touchdown on the airport's main runway at sunrise. The plane was parked at the parking bay around 05:51 CEST, at daybreak.

In Dubai, the hijackers instructed the control tower to send airport crew staff to empty the toilet tanks, supply food, water, medicine, and newspapers, and take away the rubbish. Captain Schumann was able to communicate the number of hijackers on board, specifying that there were two male and two female hijackers by dropping different types of cigarettes on the tarmac from the cockpit window. In an interview with journalists, this information was revealed by Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, then Minister of Defence. The hijackers learned about this, possibly from the radio, causing an enraged Mahmoud to angrily threaten Schumann's life for secretly sharing this coded message.

The aircraft remained parked on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport throughout Saturday, 15 October, during which the jet airliner experienced technical snags with the electrical generator, air conditioning, and auxiliary power unit breaking down. The hijackers demanded that engineers fix the plane. On the morning of Sunday, 16 October, Mahmoud threatened to start shooting hostages if the aircraft was not refuelled, and Dubai authorities eventually agreed to refuel the plane.

In the meantime, Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, the West German minister responsible for handling the hijacking crisis, Oberleutnant Ulrich Wegener, commander of the elite West German counter-terrorism tactical intervention unit GSG 9, along with his adjutants, and Gerhard Boeden, head of the counter-terrorism department at the West German Federal Criminal Police Agency, arrived in Dubai to persuade the United Arab Emirates government to allow the GSG 9 to storm the Lufthansa aircraft and rescue the hostages. However, after permission was granted, senior operatives from GSG 9, supported by two SAS operatives who had joined the German officials in Dubai at the behest of the British government, insisted on additional rehearsals and dry-runs on an adjacent airstrip.

There are many legends surrounding the use of stun grenades in the rescue operation. The British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) offered these new types of grenades, which were tested for effectiveness in Dubai. Due to the high phosphorus content, the grenades were deemed unsuitable and were not used in the plane. Reports suggest that up to 45 hours of training were conducted while in Dubai, totaling over 80 hours.

While Wegener was contemplating his options, the jet airliner was on the move again after the hijackers fully refuelled the Landshut plane and the pilots started up the engines. At 12:19 CEST on Sunday, 16 October, it took off, bound for Salalah and Masirah Island in Oman, where permission to land was once again denied and both airports were blockaded. After Riyadh in Saudi Arabia also closed and blockaded its airport runways at 14:50 CEST on 16 October (three days after the hijacking began), a course was set to Aden in South Yemen, at the limit of the plane's fuel range.

### Aden

Approaching Aden airspace, the flight was once again denied permission to land at Aden International Airport, just as it had been at the other airports in the region. Both main runways and the apron were blocked by military jeeps, tanks, and other vehicles. With the plane running dangerously low on fuel, the Aden airport authorities adamantly refused to clear the runways, leaving co-pilot Vietor little choice but to make a forced landing on an unpaved sand strip roughly parallel to both runways at 15:55 CEST.

The plane remained largely intact following the ground roll. However, when the Aden authorities instructed the hijackers and pilots to fly away, both pilots were concerned about the aircraft's airworthiness after its rough landing on rugged, rocky, and sandy terrain. They deemed it unsafe to take off and fly the jet airliner again until a thorough engineering inspection had been conducted. After the engineers claimed that the airframe was intact, Mahmoud allowed Schumann to check the condition of the landing gear and engines. Both engines had ingested a copious amount of sand and dirt at maximum reverse thrust and were clogged. The landing gear had not collapsed, but its structure was weakened, and its extension/retraction mechanism was damaged.

Schumann did not immediately return to the plane after inspecting it, despite numerous calls from the hijackers threatening to detonate the aircraft due to his absence. The reasons for his prolonged absence remained unclear for a long time. It was only in 2008, as part of a television documentary, that the man who had met Schumann at the airport in Aden was identified: Sheikh Ahmed Mansur, an Air Force General in command of a special Yemeni unit, who controlled the airport and surrounded the plane. Mansur testified that the captain, concerned for the lives of his passengers, demanded that they comply with the hijackers' demands. "I told him: I can fulfill any other request, but it is impossible for the passengers to disembark and the hijackers to negotiate from Yemeni soil. The conversation lasted eight to nine minutes," Mansur said. He only spoke to me. The ex-general also recalled Schumann's last words: "I'm going back now. I'm sure they're going to kill me."

Schumann subsequently boarded the plane, only to face the wrath of Mahmoud. In a fit of rage, Mahmoud furiously forced him to kneel on the passenger cabin floor and, without giving him a chance to explain himself, fatally shot him in the head. The hijacked plane was refuelled at 01:00 CEST on 17 October. At 02:02 CEST, with co-pilot Vietor at the controls, it dangerously and sluggishly took off from Aden, bound for the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

### Mogadishu

On the morning of 17 October at daybreak, around 04:34 CEST, the Landshut made an unannounced and textbook landing on the main runway at Mogadishu International Airport. The Somali government had initially refused the plane permission to land but relented when the jet airliner appeared in Somali airspace, fearing for the passengers' lives. The chief hijacker, Mahmoud (Akache), told co-pilot Vietor that he was very impressed by Vietor's flying skills and that he was free to disembark and flee since the crippled plane was in no state to fly elsewhere. Vietor, however, chose to stay on board with the 87 passengers and three remaining crew members.

After the twin‐engine aircraft was parked in front of the main airport terminal, it was surrounded at a distance by armed Somali troops. Schumann's corpse, which had been stored in a coat closet on board the flight throughout the final leg of the journey, was dumped via the aircraft's right rear door onto the tarmac and whisked away in an ambulance. During the day, the hijackers asked for food and medication, which were sent after the Somali government gave its permission; a Somali request that the hijackers release the women and children in exchange for the supplies was rejected. The hijackers set a 16:00 CEST deadline for the Red Army Faction (RAF) prisoners to be released, threatening to blow up the aircraft. The hijackers poured duty-free perfume and spirits over the hostages, telling them it would make them burn better, in preparation for the destruction of the aircraft, which ultimately did not occur. The hijackers were then told that the West German government had agreed to release the RAF prisoners and that their transfer to Mogadishu would take several more hours, but this was a ruse. The hijackers agreed to extend the deadline to 02:30 CEST the following morning (18 October). Mahmoud, now in high spirits, projected himself as the victor as the hijackers untied the hostages. But unbeknownst to them, the West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9 was preparing to storm the Lufthansa aircraft and bring the dramatic hijacking to a decisive end.

## Rescue

### Operation Feuerzauber: The German GSG 9 assault

While West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt attempted to negotiate an agreement with Somali President Siad Barre from Bonn, special envoy Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener, and his adjutants Dieter Fox and officer Frieder Baum, who had all been trailing the hijacked Landshut flight and monitoring the situation as part of Wischnewski's mobile crisis management team, arrived at Mogadishu from Jeddah.

In West Germany, a team of approximately 60 GSG 9 Federal Border Guard (Bundesgrenzschutz) counter-terrorism commandos consisting of two units as well as technicians, field telecoms engineers, and paramedics, led by Wegener's deputy commander, Klaus Blätte, had already assembled at Sankt Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn and were on standby, awaiting instructions. One of the GSG 9 units had already despatched from West Germany to trail the Landshut and had landed at a NATO military base in Crete, expecting to be deployed while the Landshut was in Cyprus.

On the evening of 16 October, the 1st unit GSG 9, flew from the Porz-Wahn military airfield to a NATO military base in Crete to meet the 3rd unit GSG 9. After the Landshut captain, Jürgen Schumann, was shot dead in Aden (Yemen), the probability of GSG 9 being deployed increased. They were ordered to follow the Landshut with an unspecified destination. The Lufthansa Boeing 707 aircraft, Stuttgart, carrying the GSG 9 assault team, flew from Crete towards Africa and finally to Mogadishu. It was co-piloted by Rüdiger von Lutzau, Gabriele Dillmann 's fiancé.

While the GSG 9 assault team was waiting in Djibouti airspace, an agreement was reached, and Somalia gave the green light for the rescue operation at Mogadishu. Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt then held a telephone conversation with GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener, ending with words implying, "Over to you." To this end, the West German government not only pledged considerable financial resources to Somalia but – much more importantly for the incumbent Somali 'president' Siad Barre, in reality, a coup plotter – covert support in the purchase of weapons for the war against neighbouring Ethiopia.

On 17 October, the aircraft carrying the GSG 9 assault team landed at Mogadishu International Airport at 17:30 CEST with all its lights off to avoid detection by the hijackers. It parked about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away on the joint-use military airport side. The Somali Air Force had flown outdated MiGs over the airport all day, taking off and landing as a diversion. This ensured the terrorists in the hijacked plane would not notice the 707 with Wegener's GSG 9 assault team landing, as Mogadishu airport had been closed to civilian traffic.

After four hours of unloading all of their equipment and conducting the necessary reconnaissance, Wegener and Blätte finalised the assault plan, scheduled to begin at 00:01 CEST on 18 October. They decided to approach from the tail of the aircraft, its blind spot. Six GSG 9 assault teams would use aluminium ladders with tips bound in rubber to gain access to all entry and exit doors, as well as the escape hatches in the fuselage via the overwing doors. Meanwhile, German representatives in the airport tower fed Mahmoud a fictitious progress report on the journey of the released prisoners. Mahmoud was informed that the plane carrying the prisoners had departed from Cairo after refuelling. He was then asked to provide the conditions for the prisoner-hostage exchange over the radio.

Eight GSG 9 observation and sniper commandos, led by deputy commander Blätte, strategically positioned themselves approximately 200 metres (660 ft) away, encircling the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft. They reported all significant events and movements, securing the approach for the GSG 9 assault teams. At 23:15 CEST, six GSG 9 assault teams, along with GSG 9 technicians and paramedics, began their cautious and slow approach to the tail of the Landshut aircraft. By 23:52 CEST, the GSG 9 assault teams had taken up positions under the fuselage of the aircraft.

The GSG 9 assault team relied on their Somali counterparts to create a diversion. Moments before the GSG 9 assault, Somali soldiers set off a massive explosion about 300 metres (980 ft) in front of the jet airliner as a distraction tactic. This prompted Mahmoud and one of the other three hijackers to rush to the cockpit to observe what was happening, isolating them from the hostages in the cabin.

After the GSG 9 observation and sniper command reported over the radio that the two male hijackers and the co-pilot were in the cockpit, the assault teams approached their assigned aircraft doors, put up their rubber-tipped aluminum ladders, and waited for the order to enter. At 00:05 CEST, GSG 9 commander Wegener gave the order "Feuerzauber" (Magic Fire). Two British SAS operators threw new types of diversionary "flashbang" stun grenades into the air over the front exterior of the cockpit as a distraction to blind and disorient the hijackers. Whilst the GSG 9 observation and sniper command surrounding the aircraft provided cover, the GSG 9 assault teams swiftly climbed up their ladders, tore open the aircraft doors, and entered. Wegener, leading one of two groups, opened the forward doors. Two other groups, one led by Joachim Hümmer, stormed the aircraft using ladders to climb up onto the wings and simultaneously open both overwing emergency doors. Meanwhile, two teams, one led by Dieter Fox, each opened the rear doors. Though the GSG 9 assault teams were armed with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, only the Heckler & Koch P9S semi-automatic pistols with special hollow-point ammunition were to be used inside the aircraft. Wegener himself carried a.38 S&W Special M19 service revolver. Each GSG 9 assault team consisted of two men holding a ladder, three climbing it, one opening the door, and another, weapon ready, storming into the plane, followed by the rest of the team. Fox found himself with a clear path, with the hijackers further up the plane. He grabbed Birgitt Röhll, one of the first passengers, and her 10-year-old son, Stephan, and rushed them to the exit. With this, the first evacuation of hostages through the rear aircraft doors had begun.

A firefight lasting around two minutes ensued, during which the leader of the hijackers, Mahmoud, was killed appearing from the cockpit, and a young male hijacker and a female hijacker were critically wounded in the first-class aisle. The young male hijacker was able to detonate a hand grenade as he died, wounding stewardess Gabriele Dillmann in the legs. Fortunately, the grenade did not have a fragmentation casing. The other young female hijacker, Hind Alameh, was initially unspotted and feared to have hidden among the evacuating passengers. After a brief search, she emerged from taking cover in the forward lavatory and was fatally shot when she opened fire through the door gap on the GSG 9 commandos.

Shouting in German and English for the passengers and crew to get their heads down, the GSG 9 assault teams shot all four terrorists, killing Hind Alameh, Wabil Harb, and Zohair Akache (Mahmoud), and critically wounding Souhaila Andrawes Sayeh. One GSG 9 member was wounded in the neck by return fire from the hijackers. Three passengers and a flight attendant, Gabriele Dillmann, were slightly wounded by the hijacker's grenade explosion.

During the assault, as gunfire was exchanged, the evacuation of hostages first began through the rear aircraft doors, followed by the emergency wing exits. The passengers and crew were urgently ordered and ushered to evacuate the aircraft. Just seven intense minutes after the assault had began, GSG 9 commander Wegener gave the codeword: "Frühlingszeit!" (Springtime!), signaling the successful completion of the operation. Moments later, a crucial telex message reached Chancellor Schmidt in Bonn: "Four opponents down – hostages free – four hostages slightly wounded – one border guard commando slightly wounded." The tension broke, replaced by a wave of relief and triumph.

An American passenger, Christine Santiago, aboard the plane described the rescue: "I saw the door open and a man appears. His face was painted black and he started shouting in German "We're here to rescue you, get down!" (Wir sind hier, um euch zu retten, runter!) and they started shooting."

In press news footage, one female hijacker who survived her gunshot wounds, Andrawes Sayeh, was seen lying on a stretcher covered in blood after being shot in the legs and lungs. After the passengers were freed, as she was wheeled through the arrivals hall of Mogadishu airport, she raised her hand in a victory sign and uttered, "Kill me, we will win!".

The rescuers safely escorted all 87 passengers and 4 crew members off the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft. A few hours later, they were all flown to Cologne Bonn Airport, landing in the early afternoon of Tuesday, 18 October. The GSG 9 assault team received a hero's welcome at the airport, while the hostages, arriving on a separate flight, were met with overwhelming emotional relief.

### Global praise

On 20 October, at the Federal Chancellery in Bonn, GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener and the GSG 9 assault team members were each awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for their exceptional bravery and immense courage in the successful rescue of the hostages of Lufthansa Flight 181. The two British SAS operatives, who returned on the same flight with the GSG 9 assault team at the insistence of West German officials, met German Chancellor Schmidt in Bonn. He paid them the highest compliment, and both later received awards from the British government for their supporting role.

After the successful rescue operation, commendations from around the world poured into Bonn, many accompanied by requests for police training from the elite West German GSG 9 counter-terrorism unit.

### British government and SAS role

Practical help came from West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt 's telephone conversations with British Prime Minister James Callaghan, whom the Chancellor had asked to influence Dubai, given the significant British influence in the Gulf sheikhdoms. Chancellor Schmidt's goal was to apply influence on Dubai to prevent the Landshut from continuing further and allow the West German GSG 9 to rescue the hostages, as Dubai was then considered the only suitable place in the Middle East for such an operation. An ad hoc team was then set up in London, consisting of representatives of the British Foreign and Defence Ministries, the MI6 Secret Service, other Arabia experts, and the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates. The foreign policy office in the West German Federal Chancellery, led by Jürgen Ruhfus, was also involved. In addition to maps, the British government provided two security experts from their Special Air Service (SAS), later known as Major Alastair Morrison accompanied by Sergeant Barry Davies from the SAS's legendary Pagoda Team, as well as new types of diversionary "flashbang" stun grenades and special bulletproof vests, which were later used in Mogadishu.

For a long time, there were persistent rumours that the two SAS operators had helped to draw up the operational plan. However, Wegener, the commander of the GSG 9 rescue operation, dismissed these claims as complete nonsense. He said the SAS operators proposed a completely different tactic from the one we preferred. Our concept involved penetrating the aircraft through all entrances and exits (rather than just one).

There are also many legends surrounding the use of stun grenades in the rescue operation. Wegener said in an interview that the British SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) offered the grenades, which were tested for effectiveness in Dubai. Due to the high phosphorus content, the grenades were deemed unsuitable and were not used in the plane; they also would not have contributed to the success of the operation. However, GSG 9 commander Wegener assigned the two British SAS operatives to participate in the GSG 9 assault operation, specifically deploying the British special "flash-bang" stun grenades around the front exterior of the Lufthansa Landshut aircraft at the very moment the GSG 9 assault teams would storm the aircraft.

In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Major Alastair Morrison the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Sergeant Barry Davies the British Empire Medal (BEM) for their crucial roles in aiding West German officials. Their intimate knowledge of the Persian Gulf states and the Horn of Africa, gained during their SAS service, along with practical support under the direction of the British government, facilitated co-operation from local authorities in the region for the West German officials. This support aided the West German government's rescue efforts and contingency planning for operations on the southern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula.

## Aftermath

News of the rescue of the hostages was followed by the deaths (and alleged suicides) on the same night of RAF (Red Army Faction) members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe at the supermax Stammheim Prison in Stuttgart. RAF member Irmgard Möller also attempted suicide with a breadknife but survived her injuries.

On Wednesday, 19 October, the body of German industry president Hanns Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by the RAF some five weeks before the hijacking and was held hostage for 43 days, was found in the trunk of a green Audi 100 with Bad Homburg registration plates on a side street, Rue Chades Peguy, in Mulhouse, France, close to the French-Swiss and French-German borders. The RAF had shot him dead upon hearing about the deaths of their imprisoned comrades. They contacted the French newspaper Libération to announce his 'execution'; a subsequent post-mortem examination indicated that he had been killed the previous day.

Of the 20 people identified as perpetrators in Schleyer's kidnapping, 17 were caught and convicted, two were shot during arrest. One person was not captured and was considered missing. Those involved who are still alive did not reveal the name of the individual responsible for the execution for a long time. In September 2007, former RAF member Peter-Jürgen Boock publicly stated that Rolf Heißler and Stefan Wisniewski were the perpetrators.

After the Landshut crisis, the West German government demonstrated its resolve to never negotiate with terrorists, as it had done in 1972 with the Lufthansa Flight 649 and Lufthansa Flight 615 hijackers, and in the 1975 Peter Lorenz kidnapping. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was widely praised among Western countries for his decision to storm the aircraft to rescue the hostages, although some criticized the risky action.

West German - Somali relations received a significant boost after the successful rescue operation. Lufthansa henceforth serviced all Somali Airlines planes in West Germany, while Frankfurt became Somali Airlines' new gateway to Europe. As a sign of gratitude, the West German government issued two multi-million dollar loans to the Somali government to assist in the development of the country's fisheries, agriculture, and other sectors.

## The aircraft

Originally built in January 1970, the Landshut is a Boeing 737 -230C (manufacturer's serial number 20254, Boeing line number 230, registration D-ABCE) with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A engines, named after the city of Landshut in Bavaria. While under the control of the hijackers, the plane had traveled 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi). The damaged aircraft was ferried back to Germany, repaired, and returned to service in late November 1977. It continued to fly for Lufthansa until September 1985 and was sold three months later to US carrier Presidential Airways. It subsequently changed hands several times.

### Purchase

The plane ultimately ended up in the fleet of Brazilian carrier TAF Linhas Aéreas, which purchased it for US$4,708,268 from Transmille Air Services of Kuala Lumpur. The Brazilian company subsequently went bankrupt and was unable to continue paying off the debt. TAF stopped service of the aircraft under registration PT-MTB in January 2008, owing to severe damage that made it unairworthy, and placed it in storage in Fortaleza Airport for years. On 14 August 2017, after Mr Kurpjuweit made inquiries to Fraport about scrapping seven or more abandoned aircraft at the airport, an ex-pilot group suggested bringing the plane back to Germany. David Dornier, former director of the Dornier Museum, along with the German Foreign Ministry, subsequently agreed to the project. Informed of the plans, Kurpjuweit helped the museum director with a feasibility project involving the transport of the aircraft in a Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124. The 737 was acquired from TAF for R$75,936 (€20,519) in an agreement with the Fortaleza Airport administration for payment of taxes. On 15 August 2017, an MD-11F (registration D-ALCC) was sent to the airport with 8.5 tonnes of equipment and 15 Lufthansa Technik mechanics to dismantle the 737. On 21 and 22 September 2017, an An-124 and Il-76, also from Volga-Dnepr Airlines, arrived at Fortaleza. The An-124 carried the wings and fuselage back to Europe, while the Il-76 carried the engines and seats. After a refuelling stop in Cape Verde, both arrived in Friedrichshafen on 23 September 2017, for a total cost of €10 million paid by the Foreign Ministry. Smaller parts and equipment were sent to Germany in two cargo ship containers. Upon arrival, the parts were presented to approximately 4,000 people during a special event. The recovered Landshut aircraft was scheduled to be restored and exhibited by October 2019.

### Storage

The disassembled plane has since been stored in a hangar at Airplus Maintenance GmbH in Friedrichshafen. The plan to restore and display it in its original 1977 Lufthansa livery was never carried out. Funding issues and questions over competing responsibilities between ministries delayed the project, as did uncertainty over €300,000 in yearly costs. In February 2020, a proposal to transfer the plane parts to Berlin Tempelhof was rejected by the Ministry. After three years in a hangar and with the 737's fate unresolved, David Dornier stepped down in September 2020 as museum director and was replaced by attorney Hans-Peter Rien. He and Culture Minister Monika Grütters (CDU) never agreed on further financing, and the project was placed on hold. By 2023, a new shelter will be rented, and an opening for a kind of "museum" was planned for 2026.

### Studies

The federal government looked into whether the aircraft could be exhibited in the Air Force Museum in Berlin-Gatow. The plans did not meet with approval from historians and experts, due to its remote location and lack of connection between the German army and the "Landshut" aircraft. CSU members of the Munich city council proposed bringing the aircraft to Munich, and an application was filed to see if the plane could be exhibited at former Munich Riem Airport. The city highlighted to Culture Minister Grütters the aircraft's connection to Munich, where it had been christened on 7 August 1970 in a Riem Airport hangar in the presence of a large delegation from Landshut. After exactly three years, plans to exhibit the 737 in Dornier Museum were effectively over.

## Display

The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, bpb) has confirmed that the "Landshut" display will be relocated to Hall Q in October 2024. The display will be housed in a reconstructed hall. The renovation costs have not been specified, but the monthly rent for the hall, which measures 2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft) plus nearly 1,700 square metres (18,000 sq ft) of open space, is 47,000 Euros. The lease is fixed for 15 years. This rent includes the costs for the now-completed renovations. It has now been decided that the aircraft, which has been rebuilt several times and most recently used as a cargo plane, will not be restored to its 1977 condition. "The focus is on preserving a special historical object with a varied history," said the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Work was being carried out in Hall Q, adjacent to the Spacetech Arena in Friedrichshafen Airport. The opening of the "Learning Place Landshut" project for public visits is finally approaching, with hopes to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the hostage rescue in 2027.

€15 million was made available from the German federal government, in the following allotments:

- €7.5 million: €2.5 million: aircraft maintenance and restoration, which will not happen. €2.5 million: hangar reconstruction, rented and refurbished. €1.5 million: provision of technical equipment €1.0 million: implementation of teaching concept

- €2.5 million: aircraft maintenance and restoration, which will not happen.

- €2.5 million: hangar reconstruction, rented and refurbished.

- €1.5 million: provision of technical equipment

- €1.0 million: implementation of teaching concept

- €7.5 million: operating subsidy for the 10-year period, tied to the requirement to limit "museum" entrance fees to 5 euros per person

## Use of the name Landshut in other airplanes

The name Landshut has been used by Lufthansa on three other planes since 1985:

- Boeing 737-200 D-ABHM (1985-1996)

- Airbus A319-100 D-AILK (1997-2001)

- Airbus A330-300 D-AIKE (2007-2021)

## Notable hostages

- Horst-Gregorio Canellas, German football official responsible for breaking the 1971 Bundesliga scandal was one of the hostages on board, along with his daughter.

## In popular culture

The song "122 Hours of Fear" by The Screamers, recorded in 1978, was inspired by the hijacking.

The song "RAF" by Brian Eno and Snatch (Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin) was created using sound elements from a Baader Meinhof ransom message available by public telephone at the time of the hijacking.

The hijacking and the hostage rescue operation were portrayed in two German television films: Death Game in 1997 and Mogadischu, directed by Roland Suso Richter, in 2008.

The hijacking and rescue were also portrayed in the Black Ops television series, season 2 episode 76, titled "Operation Fire Magic".

The 2015 video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege used Lufthansa Flight 181, along with other historical hostage extraction operations, as inspiration for the game and as research for making the game more accurate.

The hijacking and rescue were also a subplot device in the 2018 film Suspiria.


# List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders

## Abstract

Listed are all Major League Baseball players who have reached the 2,000 hit milestone during their career in MLB. Pete Rose holds the Major League record for most career hits, with 4,256. Rose and Ty Cobb, second most, are the only players with 4,000 or more career hits. George Davis was the first switch hitter to collect 2,000 hits, achieving that total during the 1902 season.

## Players with 2,000 or more hits

- Stats updated as of September 15, 2024.

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Brexit negotiations in 2017

# Brexit negotiations in 2017

## Abstract

Brexit negotiations in 2017 took place between the United Kingdom and the European Union for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union following the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum on 23 June 2016. The negotiating period began on 29 March 2017 when the United Kingdom served the withdrawal notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The period for negotiation stated in Article 50 is two years from notification, unless an extension is agreed. In March 2019, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May and European Leaders negotiated a two-week delay for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to agree upon The Government's Brexit Treaty, moving the date from 29 March 2019 to 12 April 2019. Negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit began in June 2017.

## Timeline

### June 2017

On 19 June 2017, David Davis arrived in Brussels to start negotiations with Michel Barnier. Terms of reference were agreed, and dates were set for four-week cycles, to culminate in a fifth round of negotiations in the week commencing 9 October. Negotiating groups were established for three topics: the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and vice versa; Britain's outstanding financial obligations to the EU; and the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

On 22 June 2017, Prime Minister May guaranteed, at a European Council meeting in Brussels, that no EU citizen living legally in the UK would be forced to leave, and she offered that any EU citizen living in the UK for more than 5 years until an unspecified deadline between March 2017 and March 2019 would enjoy the same rights as a British citizen, conditional on the EU providing the same offer to British expatriates living in the EU. The EU leaders did not immediately reciprocate the offer, with Council President Tusk objecting that the European Council is not a forum for the Brexit negotiations, and Commission president Juncker stating "I'm not negotiating here."

The Prime Minister detailed her residency proposals in the House of Commons on 26 June 2017, but drew no concessions from EU negotiators, who had declined to expedite agreement on expatriates by the end of June 2017, and who are hoping for European courts to continue to have jurisdiction in the UK with regards to EU citizens, according to their negotiation aims published in May 2017.

### July 2017

The second round of negotiations began in Brussels in mid-July 2017. It is considered the beginning of substantial negotiations, with 98 British negotiators and 45 EU27 negotiators. Progress is being made on the Northern Irish border question, whereas British negotiators have requested a detailed breakdown of the " divorce bill " demand estimated at 65 billion euros, while the EU negotiators criticise the UK's citizenship rights offer. At the concluding press conference, David Davis did not commit to a net payment by the UK to the EU with regards to the requested divorce bill, while Michel Barnier explained that he would not compromise on his demand for the European Court of Justice to have continuing jurisdiction over the rights of EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit, rejecting the compromise proposal of a new international body made up of British and EU judges.

On citizens' rights, a joint paper compared the positions of the two parties in tabular form. On Irish border issues, both parties stated that they remained committed to the Good Friday Agreement. Michel Barnier called for clarification from the UK in the August round on the financial settlement, citizens' rights and Ireland, including on how the UK intends to maintain the Common Travel Area.

### August 2017

On 16 August 2017, the British government disclosed the first of several papers detailing British ambitions following Brexit, discussing trade and customs arrangements. On 23 August 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that Britain will leave the EU Court of Justice's direct jurisdiction when the Brexit transition period that is planned after March 2019 ends, but that both the British courts and the EU Court of Justice will also keep "half an eye" on each other's rulings afterwards as well. One of the British government's position papers published in August called for no additional restrictions for goods already on the market in the UK and EU.

The third round of negotiations began in Brussels on 28 August 2017. The European Commission president Juncker criticised the UK's Brexit negotiations, saying none of the papers provided so far was satisfactory and that there would be no trade negotiations between the EU and UK until the divorce bill was settled. He had previously claimed that the UK's Brexit bill could be £55bn (which Theresa May's government ministers consider unacceptable) and EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger voiced the view that the UK should make payments until 2023. The Irish Times explained the disagreement as follows: British negotiators referred to the seven-year Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF or Maff) for the period 2014–2020 agreed by member states and the EU parliament as a "planning tool" for the next period rather than a legally-binding financial obligation on member states. The British case is that the MFF sets ceilings on spending under various headings and is later radically revised during the annual budget process when real legal obligations on each state arise. This contrasts with the EU Commission's methodology for calculating the Brexit bill which involves dividing the MFF into the shares historically agreed by each member state.

On the Irish border question, there was a "breakthrough", with the British side guaranteeing free movement of EU citizens within the Common Travel Area constituting Ireland and the United Kingdom. The BBC's Europe correspondent commented "the British perception of the talks is more positive than the EU's".

An agreement was reached on points including protecting the rights of frontier workers (those living in one country and working in another); recognition by the UK of social security contributions made both before and after exit; and continuation of healthcare reimbursement for British citizens who are in the EU27 on exit day and vice versa. The joint paper comparing the two parties' positions was updated.

Speaking at the conclusion of the talks, Michel Barnier highlighted two areas of disagreement: the role of the European Court of Justice in enforcing citizens' rights, and the extent of the UK's financial obligations. He stated "Time is passing quickly" and added that "at the current speed, we are far from being able to recommend to the European Council that there has been sufficient progress in order to start discussions on the future relationship".

### September 2017

At the elite European Ambrosetti Forum on 2 September 2017, Michel Barnier explained his negotiation aims, in that he would "teach the British people and others what leaving the EU means". Although this remark caused controversy in the UK, BBC correspondent Mark Mardell interpreted it in the context of French and Dutch euroscepticism, of the forthcoming German, Austrian and Italian elections, and of the eurosceptic Polish and Hungarian governments.

In a statement to Parliament on 5 September 2017, David Davis said that "concrete progress" had been made over the summer in areas such as protecting the rights of British expats in the EU to access healthcare and over the future of the Irish border, while significant differences over the "divorce bill" remain. He expected that "the money argument will go on for the full duration of the negotiation. The famous European "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" will apply here absolutely, as anywhere else".

On 6 September 2017, Prime Minister May announced that new immigration controls will be placed on EU nationals when Brexit concludes.

On 7 September, the EU Task Force published guiding principles for the dialogue on Ireland / Northern Ireland which reiterated and expanded the principles given in 29 April guidelines, in particular the protection of the Good Friday Agreement and the continuation of the Common Travel Area. On 9 September 2017, the EU Commission published several negotiating papers, including "Guiding Principles on the Dialogue for Ireland/Northern Ireland". In it, the EU concedes/declares that it is the responsibility of the UK to propose solutions for the post-Brexit Irish border. The paper envisages that a "unique" solution would be permissible here; in other words, any such exceptional Irish solution should not be seen as a template for post-Brexit relationships with the other EU members on border and customs control matters, for example ETIAS.

On 21 September 2017, Prime Minister May, along with her Cabinet, agreed to a transition deal which would inject 20bn euros to the EU budget over a two-year period. A cabinet source confirmed to the BBC that May's Cabinet was in fact unity around the Prime Minister's two-year transition deal.

On 22 September 2017, May announced the details of her Brexit proposal during a speech in Florence, Italy. In addition to offering 20 billion euros over a two-year transition period and continued acceptance of European immigrants, she also offered a "bold new security relationship" with the EU which would be "unprecedented in its depth" and to continue to make "an ongoing contribution" to projects considered greatly to the EU and UK's advantage, such as science and security projects. She also confirmed that the UK would not "stand in the way" of Juncker's proposals for further EU integration. The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed May's proposal as "constructive", but that it also "must be translated into negotiating positions to make meaningful progress;" Similarly, President of France Emmanuel Macron was adamant that the EU would not begin negotiations on future EU-UK relationships until "the regulation of European citizens, the financial terms of the exit, and the questions of Ireland" were "clarified" by the UK, though he also acknowledged that May did give openings in her speech on two of these three points. Ireland Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave May's proposal a "cautious welcome", saying that while it was good of May to reference the Common Travel Area, the Northern Ireland peace process and that both sides in the negotiations do not want any physical structures at the border, more negotiations were needed for clarification. EU Parliamentary negotiator Guy Verhofstadt responded that "a new registration mechanism for EU citizens going to live and/or work in the UK is out of the question".

EU negotiators have stated that an agreement must be reached between Britain and the EU by October 2018 to leave time for national parliaments to endorse Brexit. On the domestic front, Labour Party MP and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott announced she would back May's proposed negotiation for the Brexit timetable.

The fourth round of talks began on 25 September, having been delayed by one week as Theresa May was due to deliver a speech in Florence on the 22nd. She proposed a transitional "implementation period" of "around two years" and said that the UK "will honour commitments" so as to not make other EU countries pay more or receive less during the current EU budget period. Barnier declared he had no mandate from the EU27 to discuss a transition deal suggested by Prime Minister May. Davis reiterated that the UK could honour commitments made during its EU membership only in the context of a future "special partnership" deal with the EU.

The programme for the round of talks arranged for meetings between the "Principals" and for three negotiating groups covering citizens' rights, financial settlement and other separation issues, while Northern Ireland issues would be addressed by the "Coordinators", and governance of the withdrawal agreement was also for discussion at technical level.

David Davis repeated Theresa May's request for a time-limited implementation period. The UK offered to incorporate the Withdrawal Agreement into British law and ensure the British courts can refer directly to it, but there was no agreement on the role of the European Court of Justice and the standing of future ECJ case law.

Mr Barnier welcomed the UK's commitment regarding payments into the current EU budget plan, but expressed reservations about obligations beyond 2020. Mr Davis said the UK was not yet in a position to quantify its commitments.

There were constructive discussions on the Irish border, but no substantive progress.

The UK accepted the EU's definition of 'citizens lawfully resident before the cut off date', although that date was not agreed. There was agreement on the definitions of permanent and temporary residence. The UK offered a more generous "right of return" (after absence for longer than two consecutive years) than the minimum rights under current EU law. Rights of future family members remains a point of disagreement. The joint paper comparing the two parties' positions was again updated.

### October 2017

On 9 October 2017, May announced to the British Parliament that Britain could operate as an "independent trading nation" after Brexit if no trade deal is reached with the EU.

The fifth round of negotiations was held on 9, 10 and 12 October. There was technical progress on citizens' rights, although divergences remained on aspects of family reunion and the export from the UK of social security benefits. The UK stated an intention to offer a simple process for registration of EU citizens. On the Irish border, work continued to map out current areas of cooperation and build a picture of the future challenges. This round of talks completed the timetable agreed in June, with no further rounds scheduled.

On the financial settlement, Michel Barnier welcomed the commitment made by Theresa May in her Florence speech, but no negotiations took place because the UK was not ready to give details of what it would pay. Barnier said this issue had reached an impasse.

On 16 October, May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker issued a joint statement agreeing Brexit talks should "accelerate over the months to come" following a dinner meeting in Brussels which both described as "constructive and friendly." However, as at a similar dinner earlier in 2017, an unflattering "impressionistic" account of this meeting (between Prime Minister Theresa May, her chief Brexit adviser Olly Robbins, Brexit Minister David Davis, EU Commission President Juncker and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier) was published in the same German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Again, Juncker's chief-of-staff Martin Selmayr was accused as the source of the publication and of trying to undermine the negotiations. This time however Selmayr denied the accusation, and Chancellor Merkel reportedly denied her involvement.

On 17 October, Brexit Secretary David Davis insisted that there will be no deal for a transition phase without EU cooperation and that Brexit will happen regardless, even if there is what one Conservative MP described as "a bridge to nowhere."

At the European Council meeting of 19/20 October 2017, the 27 leaders of the EU states were to decide whether or not to start trade negotiations with the UK. However, Davis has conceded that so soon after the German elections on 24 September, a German coalition government may not be in place in time for making this decision in October, delaying any European Council decision until their December meeting.

On 19 October, the first day of the two-day European Council meeting in Brussels, May issued a direct message to approximately three million EU citizens living in Britain, promising she will make it as easy as possible for them to stay after Brexit. On 20 October, Tusk described media reports of the deadlock in Brexit talks as "exaggerated."

On 23 October, May announced to the House of Commons that Brexit talks underwent "important progress" during her recent meeting with the European Council and that Britain was now "in touching distance" of a trade deal with EU countries, while also reiterating that no transition phase will take place following the conclusion of Brexit without a trade deal as well. The same day, Juncker denied reports by the German media that May had "begged for help" during their recent dinner meeting.

### November 2017

Further talks were held in Brussels on 9 and 10 November. Speaking at the closing press conference, Michel Barnier confirmed that clarification on financial commitments by the UK was required within the next two weeks. If the informal deadline is not met, the next phase of negotiations will not start in December, said Barnier. EU diplomats have described the situation as a " chicken and egg dilemma", as the EU will only start working on transition guidelines if Britain makes progress on financial issues by the end of November 2017. By 17 November, however, Donald Tusk said there was no deadlock in talks between Britain and the EU following a meeting with Theresa May in Gothenburg, Sweden, and that he was optimistic that negotiations could move on to the next phase in December.

Discussions on the financial settlement took place later in the month, led by Oliver Robbins for the UK and Sabine Weyand for the EU.

David Davis rejected an EU proposal that Northern Ireland could remain in the EU customs union (thereby creating a customs border "down the Irish Sea " with Great Britain).

In the wake of the German elections (23 September 2017), as of 10 November, negotiations were still ongoing to form a coalition government between Frau Merkel's CDU, the sister party CSU, the economically liberal FDP and the German Greens; politicians from all three factions published an appeal to reach a coalition agreement (rather than risk new elections), in the interest of Germany forming a "stable anchor" to unite with France and defend the EU and the euro in the current situation.

### December 2017

Negotiations between officials led to a draft agreement which was expected to be finalised at a meeting between Jean-Claude Juncker and Theresa May in Brussels on 4 December 2017. There was progress on the financial settlement and citizens' rights, but the meeting was abandoned after Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party objected to arrangements for the Irish border; the agreement had earlier received the support of Leo Varadkar, Ireland's Taoiseach (prime minister).

Talks continued on the following days, leading to publication on 8 December of a joint report setting out the commitments to be reflected in the Withdrawal Agreement. "Agreement in principle" was reached on the three areas:

- protecting the rights of Union citizens in the UK and British citizens in the Union

- the framework for addressing the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland

- the financial settlement.

A joint technical note gave details of the consensus on citizens' rights. Topics postponed to a later phase included:

- rights of British citizens resident in an EU27 country on the withdrawal date to move to another EU27 country, and their right to return to the UK

- recognition of professional qualifications, beyond those already mutually recognised at the withdrawal date.

Juncker described the agreement as a "breakthrough" Brexit deal. The second phase of negotiations – concerning Britain's post-Brexit trade with the EU – would now be able to take place as a result of the agreement. The second phase was to cover the arrangements for transition towards the UK's withdrawal, together with the framework for the future relationship.

After more than 2 months of a caretaker German government since the German federal elections in September, on 7 December 2017 new elections were averted when the German socialist party under Martin Schulz agreed to negotiate a coalition government with Angela Merkel 's Christian Democrat party, but on condition that a "United States of Europe" be created by 2025, dismissing those EU member states who were unwilling to participate.

The following day (8 December), the UK and EU negotiators agreed on the principle that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" and formally announced to proceed immediately to the next phase of talks on a transition period and future trade relationships.

On 15 December, the European Council adopted guidelines for the second phase of the negotiation covering arrangements for transition towards the UK's withdrawal, together with the framework for the future relationship. The document confirmed that progress in the first phase was "sufficient", while stating that commitments made in that phase must be "translated faithfully into legal terms as quickly as possible"; and notes the UK's proposal for a transition period of "around two years". On 20 December, the European Commission published a draft of the negotiating directives stating a transition period should not last beyond 31 December 2020. During the transition the United Kingdom would not be part of agreements the EU made on behalf of its members with third countries, such as CETA.

In December 2017, EU leaders announced an agreement to begin the next phase of negotiations, with talks on a transition period after March 2019 to begin in early 2018 and discussions on the future UK–EU relationship, including trade and security, to begin in March.