West Berlin discotheque bombing

On 5 April 1986, three people were killed and 229 injured when La Belle discothèque was bombed in the Friedenau locality (then part of Schöneberg, and since 2001 part of the merged district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg) of West Berlin. The entertainment venue was commonly frequented by United States soldiers;<ref name="malinarich2001">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> two of the dead and 79 of the injured were Americans.<ref name="linked">Template:Cite news</ref>

Libya was accused by the US government of sponsoring the bombing, before US president Ronald Reagan ordered retaliatory strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya ten days later. The operation was widely seen as an attempt to kill colonel Muammar Gaddafi.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, in the bombing's aftermath, this claim was met with widespread skepticism. In 1987, Manfred Ganschow, the head of the West German team investigating the bombing, said that there was no evidence pointing towards Libya, a belief which was corroborated by numerous intelligence agencies in Europe at the time, according to a BBC report.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp In 2001, following a four-year German trial, often described as "murky"<ref name="malinarich2001" /> and marred by what the court called a "limited willingness" by the American and German governments to share evidence,<ref name="malinarich2001" /><ref name="linked" /> it was found that the bombing had been "planned by the Libyan Intelligence Service and the Libyan embassy",<ref name=linked/> but Gaddafi was absolved of responsibility.<ref name="malinarich2001" /><ref name="linked" /><ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>

Background

Memorial plaque reading, "On the 5th of April, 1986, young people were murdered inside this building by a criminal bombing."

The bombing came at a time of heightened tension between the United States and Libya, which first escalated in the early 1980s.<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp These tensions drastically escalated in early 1986, when US forces repeatedly flew planes over the Gulf of Sidra.<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp Libyan forces subsequently fired upon American planes,<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp which led to an American bombing campaign.<ref name="linked" />

The site of the bombing, a discothèque known as La Belle, was known to be a popular spot for American troops in West Germany.<ref name="malinarich2001" /><ref name=":2" />

Attack

A bomb placed under a table near the disc jockey's booth exploded at 01:45 CET. An eyewitness testified that he had walked outside of the club prior to the bomb going off and the blast knocking him back. He righted himself and went inside to find his wife and joined many individuals who were attempting to help those near the blast.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The blast destroyed a large portion of the floor, causing many to fall into the cellar underneath the dance floor.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Victims

The explosion instantly killed a Turkish woman, Nermin Hannay, and US Army Sergeant Kenneth T. Ford. A second American sergeant, James E. Goins, died from his injuries two months later.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The blast injured at least 230 individuals which included more than 50 American service members, as it was a popular hangout spot for service members.<ref name=":0" /> Some of the victims were left permanently disabled due to the injuries caused by the explosion.<ref name="linked" />

Blame and retribution

Almost immediately after the bombing, the American government, led by president Ronald Reagan, placed the blame on Libya.<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp However, the West German team investigating the bombing had not found any evidence of Libyan involvement, and other intelligence agencies throughout Europe also did not find evidence of Libyan involvement. Nine days after the bombing, Reagan ordered airstrikes against the Libyan capital of Tripoli,<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp and the city of Benghazi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At least 30 soldiers and 15 civilians were killed.<ref name="malinarich2001" /><ref>1986: US launches air strikes on Libya Template:Webarchive| bbc.co.uk</ref><ref>Apr 14, 1986: U.S. bombs Libya Template:Webarchive This Day in History</ref> Gaddafi's adopted infant daughter Hana was reported killed,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> although the claim, and even her existence, have been disputed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Following the reunification of Germany, archives from the Stasi in East Germany were made available, which led to Libyan embassy worker Musbah Eter, who would later be indicted for aiding and abetting attempted murder.<ref name="malinarich2001" />

In 2001, a court in Germany found that the bombing had been "planned by the Libyan secret service and the Libyan Embassy", and convicted four people suspected to be involved with the attack, including two workers at the Libyan embassy in East Germany.<ref name="linked" /> However, in their ruling, the court presiding over the trial complained that their decision was hindered by "the limited willingness" of the German and American governments to share intelligence,<ref name="linked" /> and the trial was called "murky" by BBC News.<ref name="malinarich2001" /> Notably, the trial failed to prove the involvement of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.<ref name="malinarich2001" /><ref name="linked" /><ref name=":3" />

Trial and conviction

In spite of reports blaming Libya for the attack on the nightclub, no individual was officially accused of the bombing until the 1990 reunification of Germany and the subsequent opening up of the Stasi archives.<ref name="malinarich2001"/> Stasi files led German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis to Musbah Abdulghasem Eter, a Libyan who had worked at the Libyan embassy in East Berlin.<ref name="malinarich2001"/> Stasi files listed him as an agent, and Mehlis said he was the Libyan spy agency's main contact at the embassy.<ref name="malinarich2001" />

Beginning in 1996, a number of suspects were extradited to Germany. Yasser Mohammed Chreidi, a Palestinian man accused of being the plot's "mastermind", was extradited from Lebanon to Germany on May 24 in connection with the bombing.<ref name=":2" /> Chreidi was said to be a "suspected activist of the Fatah-Revolutionary Council" headed by Abu Nidal,<ref name=":2" /> who used to live in Tripoli and was financed by Libya in the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eter was reported to be the Libyan spy agency's point man at the embassy in East Berlin.<ref>Beirut liefert aus : Textarchiv : Berliner Zeitung Archiv</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Eter and four other suspects were arrested in 1996 in Lebanon, Italy, Greece, and Berlin, and put on trial a year later. Eventually, a four year trial in Germany, which ended in 2001, found that the bombing had been "planned by the Libyan secret service and the Libyan Embassy", and convicted four people suspected to be involved with the attack: German citizen Verena Chanaa was found guilty of murder, after carrying a bag with the bomb used for the attack into La Belle; Yasir Shraydi, a Palestinian worker at the Libyan embassy in East Berlin, was convicted of attempted murder; Musbah Eter was found guilty of being an accomplice; Ali Chanaa, Verena Chanaa's ex-husband, was also found guilty.<ref name="linked" /> A fifth defendant, Andrea Häusler, who accompanied Verena Chanaa to the club, was acquitted after prosecutors failed to prove she had known that the bomb used in the attack was in Chanaa's bag.<ref name="linked" /> Verena Chanaa and Yasir Shraydi were sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Musbah Eter and Ali Chanaa were sentenced to 12 years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The court found that the three men had assembled the bomb in the Chanaa's flat.<ref name="malinarich2001" /> The explosive was said to have been brought into West Berlin in a Libyan diplomatic bag.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The court also notably ruled that prosecutors failed to demonstrate involvement in the bombing by Muammar Gaddafi.<ref name="malinarich2001" /><ref name="linked" /><ref name=":3" />

Compensation

On 17 August 2003, newspapers reported that Libya had signaled to the German government that it was ready to negotiate compensation for the bombing with lawyers for non-U.S. victims.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A year later, on 10 August 2004, Libya concluded an agreement to pay a total of $35 million compensation to non-US citizens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion into a fund to compensate relatives of:

1. Lockerbie bombing victims with the remaining 20% of the sum agreed in 2003;
2. American victims of the West Berlin discotheque bombing;
3. American victims of the 1989 UTA Flight 772 bombing; and,
4. Libyan victims of the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• 1988 Naples bombing
• Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)
• Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)
• Libya and state-sponsored terrorism
• List of terrorist incidents in 1986
• Operation El Dorado Canyon
• Pan Am Flight 103
• Pan Am Flight 73
• UTA Flight 772

External links

• BBC Flashback: The Berlin disco bombing
• La Belle victims' website
• Operation El Dorado Canyon
• 'La Belle' verdict favours Libya