
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990                   TAG: 9006280312
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY                                LENGTH: Short

HUNGARY WAS HAVEN FOR ELUSIVE TERRORIST

The international terrorist known as Carlos was given refuge in Hungary in 1979, according to letters and documents made public Wednesday by Hungary's new interior minister.

In one letter, dated April 2, 1980, Carlos thanked Janos Kadar, Hungary's longtime Communist leader, for having given his group protection for a year. It is not known where Carlos is now.

The interior minister, Balasz Horvath, first disclosed details about Carlos' asylum in Hungary on Tuesday at a session of Parliament, but his account was publicly denied as "nonsense" by the interior minister during the period in question, Andrei Beinke.

At a news conference Wednesday, Horvath showed letters signed by Beinke in 1979, acknowledging Carlos' presence in Hungary. Copies of the letters were sent to ranking members of the Hungarian Communist Party.

The disclosure is the latest in a series showing that Eastern European countries served as havens for suspects wanted for acts of terrorism in the West.

Carlos is the alias used by Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. He is still sought for his role in the 1975 attack on a meeting of OPEC ministers in Vienna, in which three people were killed and 11 oil ministers were taken hostage. Carlos was given safe passage to Algiers with hostages.

by CNB