An emergency cabinet meeting was called at midnight to assess the situation. In view of the killings that had occurred and faced with the prospect of many more, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky and his cabinet agreed to accede to the terrorist's demands on the condition that all OPEC employees were to be released prior to the groups departure. On hearing the news Carlos was livid and shouted at the mediator that he was the one who decided who should be released. Within minutes, Carlos changed his mood drastically and agreed to the terms, telling Al-Azzawi that he had already decided to release the employees well before the Chancellor's request. Enroute to the airport At 6.40 the following morning, a yellow postal bus with curtained windows, pulled up outside the rear entrance of the OPEC building. Shortly after, Carlos was standing brazenly beside the bus, as the hostages were loaded. After separating the employees that were to be freed, he provided a show for the television cameras by shaking hands with each of the hostages as they were released. When the remaining forty-two hostages were safely onboard, the bus drove towards the airport led by an ambulance and two police cars with flashing lights. Another ambulance carrying Klein, and a doctor who had volunteered to accompany him on the trip, had departed for the airport earlier. As the convoy made it's way through the morning traffic, Carlos could be seen clearly, standing at the window in the front of the bus next to the driver, waving at passers-by. Ironically, the sign on the front of the bus bore the legend, Sonderfahrt or Special Trip. Loading the hostages After arriving at the airport, the hostages were loaded on the Austrian Airlines DC9 but as Carlos prepared to board, Otto Roesch, the Austrian Interior and a former member of the Hitler Youth, stepped forward to shake hands with Carlos. The scene was captured by the press who ran it as a cover story the next da...
