twenty-four hours of intense negotiations, 360 passengers and crews were released in exchange for Khaled and six other convicted terrorists. As a final act of revenge, terrorist bombers destroyed the aircraft. Carlos, as a new recruit with no experience, was not used in the attacks but spent the time guarding a munitions depot far from the action.Prior to the hijackings, King Hussein of Jordan had been mostly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and had allowed over fifty terrorist groups into his country. Tensions had been mounting however, since Palestinian attacks on Jewish targets had increased Jordan's vulnerability to retaliatory strikes from Israel. The tension increased in February 1970 when Jordanian troops, attempting to enforce a royal decree that ordered the Palestinians to surrender their guns and explosives, clashed with the "freedom fighters" in a street brawl that lasted three days. The decree was later abandoned.Incensed that the Popular Front would have the audacity the carry out such an act on Jordanian soil without his consent, Hussein decreed marshal law and raised his Bedu army to drive the Palestinians out of Jordan. The resulting conflict was dubbed "Black September" and was to become Carlos's first taste of real warfare. Carlos fought alongside Abu-Sharif against the Jordanian army until 1970 but the war continued to rage another year before King Hussein claimed victory over his enemy. More than three thousand Palestinians died during the conflict, during which Carlos gained the reputation as a fearless fighter and a cool calculating killer. Following their defeat, most members of the Popular Front fled to Israel rather than be taken prisoner by the Bedu army. Carlos was not among them; George Habash had other plans for his young protg. Carlos the "playboy," with mother and friend (Yallop)He was selected for appointment as the Popular Front's representative in London. His task was to ingratiate himsel...
