ENTERING THE AGE OF TERROR - Keith W Stump - June 1977

Keith W Stump

Top law enforcement officials around the globe predict an increase in terrorist bombings, hijackings and assassinations in the months and years ahead. What can be done to stem the epidemic of terrorism? Washington, D.C., was a city under siege. A small band of Hanafi Moslem terrorists, bent on revenge against members of the rival Black Muslims convicted of murdering seven Hanafis in 1973, held some 130 hostages at gunpoint at three separate locations in the city in early March of this year. The gunmen threatened to behead their hostages unless the convicted murderers were taken from prison and brought to them for "justice." Heavily armed policemen ringed the three buildings in a tense standoff. Finally, after lengthy negotiations with Washington police and Moslem diplomats, the gunmen released the hostages and surrendered to police. The two-day siege came to a sudden and unexpected end. Tragedy, in this case at least, was averted. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library