those still inside the plane.
About fifteen minutes after we landed and took control of the plane, Italian troops of all kinds began showing up and taking up positions outside of our positions — Army troops, Carabinieri (police), and even young green conscripts with World War II weapons (the same bunch had recently been in Bill Spearman's motor pool, shooting at birds). The whole affair was kind of comical. They were showing up in anything available to carry them — pickup trucks, motor bikes, cars, and even three-wheeled construction carts with five or six guys in their dump buckets.
The sudden appearance of armed American forces taking over part of his base had so astonished Colonel Annicchiarici, that he'd decided he had to
About the same time, a couple Italian officers showed up and tried to board the plane, to see who was on it, but were turned away by Frank and Tom.
So this was the situation not too long after midnight on Friday, October 11:
We had the plane surrounded with two rings of about eighty to ninety heavily armed shooters and snipers positioned at strategic locations. However, the outer ring of our security was now directly facing the Italians — eyeball to eyeball. Though I figured they had us outnumbered by about three to one, I wasn't worried about them taking us on. They knew better than that. However, I was concerned that something unanticipated, like a vehicle backfiring, could cause one of their young, jumpy troops to open fire. If that happened, several people would die, mainly Italians.
About this time, Bill Spearman showed up at the plane with Colonel Annicchiarici, followed soon after that by an Italian Army three-star (whose name I do not recall), who had come to officiate at the change of command. As it soon turned out, we were lucky to have the three-star there. He was friendly and intelligent, and did what he could to help the two sides — his and ours — navigate a difficult situation. Over the next twenty-four hours, the two of us came to work closely together to sort out this complex situation.
After we'd been introduced, I explained our mission and my understanding of the Italian government's position — that is, that they had agreed to turn the terrorists over to us.
'If it were up to me,' he replied, 'I would give them to you in a minute. But I have received no word to this effect, and you must understand where that leaves me.'
'Maybe the word just hadn't gotten down to you yet,' I told him. 'How about you going back up the tape to check, while I check with my ambassador in Rome?'
He agreed.
I contacted my liasion officer and told him to get Ambassador Rabb on the horn. When Ambassador Rabb came on the radio five minutes later, I explained that we had forced the Egyptian airliner down at Sigonella with the four terrorists on board and that my orders were to take the terrorists and fly them back to the States to stand trial, and it was my understanding that the Italian government had agreed to turn them over to me.
'You've done what?' he blurted, taken aback. I could tell from his reaction that he didn't know anything about any part of this. But he said he
About fifteen minutes later, the Italian lieutenant general returned. 'I have gone all the way back to the Minister of Defense,' he said, 'and no one knows about any such agreement.
'You must understand,' he added, 'that it was an Italian ship that was hijacked, and this is Italian soil, with Italian jurisdiction. And we just can't afford to turn them over.'
'Let me check with Washington to see if there is a misunderstanding.'
Still standing by the plane, with the Italian three-star close by, I made another call to the Pentagon. I don't recall who answered, but it sounded like Admiral Moreau, and I knew that all the chiefs were listening.
'I want to bring you up to speed and to reverify my mission,' I said. 'Here is the situation: We have the plane. I have verified that the four terrorists are on board, along with eight to ten armed guards from the 777 Force, which I do not consider a threat. Also there are two other men, one a tough-looking Arab in his mid-forties, who has to be important, and a younger redheaded, freckled-face guy sitting at a table with him. We have not been able to identify these two. I have already taken the pilot off the plane, along with another individual who claims to be an ambassador. He is now calling back to Egypt and we are monitoring his phone conversations. Mostly he is requesting guidance to deal with the terrible situation they have ended up in.
'The Italian base commander here at Sigonella felt that he had to react,' I continued. 'I think more to save face than anything else. In my estimation, they have positioned about three hundred or so troops in a perimeter around us. We are eyeball to eyeball. I have an Italian three-star with me. He has called all the way back to his Ministry of Defense and can find no one with any knowledge of an agreement to turn over the terrorists to us. I have also talked to Ambassador Rabb, and he has no knowledge of such an agreement.
'I am not worried about our situation. We have the firepower to prevail. But I am concerned about the immaturity of the Italian troops, some of whom arc green conscripts, as well as the absence of anybody with the ability to control them in this tense situation. A backfire from a motorbike or construction cart could precipitate a shooting incident that could lead to a lot of Italian casualties. And I don't believe that our beef is with our ally, the Italians, but rather with the terrorists.
'Now with this picture, I just want to reverify that my mission is to take the terrorists off the plane and bring them back to the U.S.'
After I finished, I got a 'wait out.'
About five minutes later, a response came — I thought from Secretary Weinberger, but it could have been Admiral Crowe, since I had never heard his voice over SATCOM: 'You are the ranking American on the scene, and you do what you think is right.'
I 'rogered' the message. Which was
By this time it was about 4:00 A.M. We had been on the ground now for approximately two hours, trying to sort this mess out. During that time, I had occasionally overheard discussions between Italian officers, including some disagreements. There were apparently questions about which 'magistrates' (judges) ought to have jurisdiction over the terrorists. The Italian justice system was complex, and there'd be plenty of magistrates involved, all with differing responsibilities. This could conceivably further complicate a conclusion that would be in the best interest of the United States.
After listening to all this for a while, and doing some thinking on my own, I'd come to my main conclusion: No matter how complex the Italian justice system was, and how many magistrates would be involved, we had to somehow find a way to fix responsibility for prosecuting the terrorists on the shoulders of the Italian government. We needed to find a way to hold their feet to the fire inescapably.
A little later, a way to do that came to me.
About that time, my counterpart, the Italian three-star, and I moved the short distance to the base commander's office, which was where he had to make his calls anyhow, to find a more suitable place to discuss the issues at hand.
When we got there, I made a proposal that I thought would be in the best interest of both governments. 'The first thing we've got to do,' I told him, 'is un-mingle the troops, to minimize the possibility of a shooting incident between the United States and Italy that could leave a lot of dead or wounded Italians lying on this tarmac when the sun comes up — a situation you and 1 must avoid.
'Once we have done that, I will take the Force 777 guards off the plane, disarm them, and take them to a secure holding area. Then we will take the rest of the air crew off, leaving only the terrorists and the two unidentified individuals on the plane.
'Once that's done, 1 will reduce our security force to a minimum visible presence around the plane.
'Come daylight, you or whoever you designate can enter the plane and take the remainder off one at a time. Then, you, along with a two-man detail that I provide, will take them to whatever location the district attorney designates for charging and lock up; and we will assist in verification/identification.' What I had in mind was to fly in some of the former hostages from Egypt and put the terrorists before a lineup, but I didn't spring this on the lieutenant general until later.
The lieutenant general seemed to like that idea and, with a nod of his head, asked for a few minutes to discuss the proposal with his higher-ups. He picked up the phone, and then about fifteen minutes later told me that the proposal was agreeable.
